Le professionnalisme au Québec : une étude empirique Professionalism in Québec: An Empirical Study

Résumé

Cet article vise à décrire rapproche empirique utilisée dans une étude sur le professionnalisme des pharmaciens québécois.

Abstract

There are very few empirical studies on professionalism available today. The present article constitutes one attempt to fill the gap. The results of our research on Quebec's pharmacists, form the subject matter of the following lines.

Professionalism is first defined according to three of its essential aspects: "professional involvement as such (professional-client relations, professional autonomy, participation in the activities of the Order or other associations, etc.); scientific involvement (acquiring knowledge and skills, as well as keeping up to date on them; competency; etc.); social involvement (participation in community activities)".

The study included all qualified pharmacists in the province, and they were approached through the use of a questionnaire based on both opinions and facts. Treatment of the information obtained indicates that it is possible with the aid of factorial analysis to determine basic elements, although "social involvement" seems less consistent as a factor than the two others referred to above. There is very little relation-ship between the factual information furnished by the pharmacists and their opinions. As regards scientific involvement, based on factual information, it is found to occupy a very important place in the activities of pharmacists.

Our interpretation of results reveals that professionalism among pharmacists is rather of the traditional sort.