Mental Health Resources In Pharmacy Schools

Introduction: This study aims to examine the availability of mental health resources available to pharmacy students. Identifying if pharmacy schools have specific resources is important given the increasing prevalence of mental health disorders among pharmacy students.Methods: This study has two arms: (1) survey sent to representatives of student affairs of 11 pharmacy schools, and (2) website scan performed of all pharmacy schools in the United States. The survey collected information on mental health resources available including availability, location, and future plans. The website scan examined resources at each school listed on the doctor of pharmacy school directory on the Pharmacy College Application Service website, and the difficulty of locating this information. Microsoft Excel was used to perform descriptive statistics.Results: For the survey arm (n = 9), 83% of respondents were directors of student affairs. Top services located within the university campus, but not within the pharmacy school, were wellness activities (67%) and an on-site counselor (89%). Similarly, for the website scan (n = 150), most schools had availability of an on-site counselor; however, 83% of counselors were located within the university campus, not within the pharmacy school. For 77% of pharmacy schools, no information on mental health resources was found on their websites. The information was considered "somewhat" or "extremely difficult" to find for 45% of schools.Conclusion: Both arms found that the most commonly available services, including an on-site counselor, were not located at the pharmacy school but instead part of university campus services. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.