Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate barriers to pharmacists' routine work in community setting. A survey was given to 281 pharmacists who enrolled in 16-week clinical pharmacy educating program in continuous education center for advanced pharmacy at Seoul National University. Three main questions that pharmacists were asked to answer were: (1) difficulties on dispensing prescription, (2) difficulties on communicating with doctors, (3) most difficult disease on patients counseling. The response rates for the survey were more than 60 % for each three questions (62.63 %, 63.7 %, and 64.41 %, respectively). The top three barriers to dispensing prescription were lack of professional knowledge about medications, prescription error and its solving ability and patient counseling. The top three barriers to communicating with doctors were lacking of opportunity to discuss about patients' medication due to unavailability of doctors, doctors' attitude using authoritative manner, and a pharmacist's lack of knowledge. The top 4 most difficult diseases on patients counseling were cardiovascular disorders, dermatologic disorders, endocrinologic disorders, and psychiatric disorders.