Autism familiarity and knowledge among pharmacy students

ObjectivesAutism is a growing public health burden as its prevalence and medical costs continue to rise, making knowledge of, and familiarity with, autism among current and future healthcare professionals crucial. While studies have examined autism familiarity and knowledge among other healthcare professionals including medical students, such studies are yet to be conducted among pharmacy students. The purpose of this study was to assess the familiarity and knowledge of autism among pharmacy students.MethodsA cross-sectional, descriptive design was employed with a self-administered, paper-based survey distributed to professional pharmacy students in a southeastern university school of pharmacy. The survey was designed to assess students’ familiarity with and knowledge of autism, their educational background on autism, and their demographic characteristics.ResultsCompleted surveys were received from 196 (60.1%) pharmacy students. Students reported themselves to be less than somewhat familiar with autism (2.48 ± 0.76). Fourth-year professional students reported the highest familiarity with autism. Most students reported not having received autism instruction in their curricula but agreed that autism should be covered in their curricula.ConclusionsGiven pharmacy students’ lack of familiarity with autism and willingness to learn about autism in pharmacy school, pharmacy educators are encouraged to include autism in their curricula.