Perceptions of Nigerian final year undergraduate students of the adequacy of the pharmacy curriculum for mental health care

Background There is growing concern about the adequacy of undergraduate curricula in schools of pharmacy worldwide regarding mental health. In Nigeria, both Bachelor and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees (BPharm and PharmD, respectively) are offered, but little is known about the scope of mental health care in either curriculum. Aim This study evaluated the perceptions of final year undergraduate students regarding the adequacy of the pharmacy curriculum in mental health care and their preparedness for a career in the field. Methods A pretested 33‐item questionnaire was administered to 950 (BPharm, n = 858; PharmD, n = 92) consecutively selected final year undergraduate students in the 19 accredited schools of pharmacy in Nigeria who had undergone experiential learning in teaching hospitals and community pharmacies and registered for the 2017–18 academic year. Results Most respondents (618/950; 65.1%) had no explicit learning on common mental disorders at the time of the study, and this did not differ significantly between the BPharm and PharmD respondents (p = 0.66). Most respondents (763/950; 80.3%) strongly disagreed or disagreed with the assertion that ‘the curriculum exposes students to real‐life mental health practice’. Furthermore, of the 932 that responded to the assertion that ‘pharmacy undergraduate curriculum prepares one adequately to practice mental health pharmacy’ 613 (65.8%) strongly disagreed or disagreed, with no significant difference between the PharmD and BPharm groups (p = 0.085). The respondents (460/950; 48.4%) would not specialise in mental health pharmacy, 38.0% (175/460) because they felt unprepared in terms of skills. Conclusion The respondents perceived the pharmacy curriculum as inadequate for mental health care and considered this inadequacy a hindrance towards its practice in Nigeria.