IndexIntroductionMaterials and methodsStatistical analysisDiscussionWorks CitedIntroductionPharmacy is one of the most respected professions globally and has undergone tremendous developments over the years. The role of the pharmacist has changed: from product-oriented to patient-oriented. This is because pharmacists are medicine experts, where they advise both patients and doctors regarding the appropriate use of both prescription and over-the-counter medications. In 1997, the World Health Organization highlighted the expanded role of pharmacists in the healthcare team and coined the term “seven-star pharmacist,” referring to the extension of their role to caregiver, decision maker, communicator, leader, manager, student permanent. , and teacher. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Pharmacy students are taught numerous biomedical, pharmaceutical, clinical, and administrative science courses to strengthen their knowledge and develop their skills so they can become productive and successful professionals in the field of pharmacy practice. Preparing students for their future career plans during high school is very important. In Canada, for example, more than 3,500 middle school students were interviewed to assess their future career plans and their confidence in being able to find training and work in their field of interest. Most of the students had already planned their future careers and were confident of finding jobs nationally and globally. High school students are normally not aware of the pharmacy profession or the role of pharmacists. There are, however, many reasons why students choose pharmacy as an area of ​​specialization after graduating from high school. Some choose pharmacy because they want to work with patients, others choose pharmacy because they want a profession with a high income, while still others choose pharmacy because they want a profession with flexible working hours. These students may be influenced to study pharmacy by their relatives, friends or teachers or through job fairs. The College of Pharmacy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences offered a week-long program for high school graduates, introducing them to the pharmacy profession. During this week, the students were informed about the profession, were involved in activities related to compounding, visited practice sites and were included in some clinical training courses. By the end of the week, approximately 70% of students who had completed the course had applied or were considering applying to the pharmacy program. 7Proper systematic and career guidance for high school students regarding pharmaceutical career and potential job opportunities would guide students towards selecting the career of interest, as well as help them map out their future career plan. The pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia suffers from a shortage of native pharmacists, which has led to the recruitment of a large number of foreign pharmacists. 8 Until 2001, there was only one pharmaceutical ink school, but as of 2016, a total of 21 public pharmaceutical colleges and private colleges were established. Today, the total number of doctoral (Pharm D) programs offered in Saudi Arabia is 19, while 15 bachelor's (B Pharm) programs are offered. Due to the huge increase in the number of pharmacy schools between 2001 and 2016, the number ofSaudi national pharmacists increased from 5% to 16.6% during that period. 10Many studies around the world have investigated the reasons and motivations that drive pharmacy students to study pharmacy5, 6, 11 and 14 as well as their future career plans. 4, 15, 16 In Saudi Arabia, a single study was conducted among 122 final year Pharm and Pharm D students in Riyadh to evaluate the main factors influencing the selection of pharmacy program students and their willingness to enter the pharmaceutical industry after graduation. Taif is a major city located in the western region of Saudi Arabia. No previous studies have been conducted in the western region of Saudi Arabia to explore pharmacy student satisfaction levels and future career plans. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the motivations of all pharmacy students (PharmD) in joining the pharmacy program at Tail University, their satisfaction with their choice, and their future career plans. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Pharmacy, University of Taif. About 700 questionnaires were conveniently distributed to all pharmacy students of Taif University. The questionnaire was developed after an extensive literature review. Validation of form and content was performed by two experts from the Department of Clinical Pharmacy of Taif University (one professor and one associate professor). The initial questionnaire was tested on 20 students. The pilot study produced a Cronbach's alpha of 82.6%. The questionnaire was divided into four sections. The first section covered the demographics of the respondents, such as gender, education level, place of residence, and grade point average (GPA). The second section investigated students' reasons for choosing to study the Pharm D program. The third section addressed students' satisfaction with choosing pharmacy as a specialization. The final section asked about the students' future career plans. In this section, students were given a list of possible career paths for pharmacists and asked to answer “yes” or “no” to each. Because students were allowed to choose more than one possible future career plan, the total percentage of student choices may in some cases be greater than 100%. All pharmacy students at the College of Pharmacy, Taif University, were eligible to participate in this study, a total of 765 male and female students. All students were enrolled in the same program, a one-year Pharm D program. A group of 4th year pharmacy students were recruited as data collectors. They met with pharmacy students at the College of Pharmacy during their study breaks from April 1, 2017 to April 30, 2017. First, data collectors introduced themselves to the students and informed them about the study. They then informed them that their participation in the study would be voluntary and that all data would be kept confidential. The questionnaire was administered to students who agreed to participate in the study and gave informed verbal consent. The questionnaire generally took less than 10 minutes to complete. Statistical Analysis The data obtained from this survey were coded, entered, and then analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the results, while Chisquare and Fisher Exact tests were used to determine the association between students' demographic profiles and their responses to the three main study sections. Values ​​less than0.05 was considered significant. A total of 700 students were present during the study period. Only 398 students responded to the questionnaire, response rate of 56.85%. The majority of respondents were men (80%), in their fourth year of study (47.7%), had applied for the pharmacy program as their second choice after medicine (62.3%) and preferred to study Pharm D. program (98.2%). Detailed results are shown in Table 1. Table 2 below summarizes the reasons students chose to enroll in the pharmacy program. Two thirds of those interviewed were encouraged to study pharmacy by family members, while three quarters73. 4% chose pharmacy because their high school grades allowed them to participate in the program. Finding an in-demand job with career opportunities, flexible work hours, a desire to work in a health-related field, and job security were the main incentives for pharmacy students to join the pharmacy program (81.7 %, 67.8%, 83.4% and 83.2% respectively. Just over half of the interviewees (52%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that pharmacy is the ideal profession , approximately 58.7% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that if they had the opportunity to choose their study program again, they would choose pharmacy again. Only 27% of the respondents regretted it having entered the College of Pharmacy. Regarding students' future career plans, students were asked to select all areas of work that might interest them DiscussionStudying pharmacy is a stressful task due to the academic workload during the period of study. Therefore, students participating in a pharmacy program should be clear about the requirements to successfully complete the program, as well as the opportunities available to pharmacy graduates. From our findings it is evident that only 37.7% of our respondents had applied to study pharmacy as their first choice. It is a common belief in Arab countries that students who achieve high grades in high school largely choose to study medicine as their first choice. Those who fail to secure a place in medical school most of the time choose to study pharmacy or another health-related subject. In a study conducted among undergraduate pharmacy students in Jordan, it was found that 45% had applied for pharmacy as their first choice, while approximately 32% of respondents had medicine as their first choice of study program. Similar results were found in a study conducted among pharmacy students at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa, where pharmacy was the first choice for 52.3% of pharmacy students. Many incentives and influencing factors could influence students' decision regarding their chosen field of study. In our study, approximately two-thirds of the respondents, 66%, were encouraged to study pharmacy by family members, 83.7% wanted to work in a respected profession, 81.7% chose pharmacy due to the desire to work in a popular industry. and profession required, 60% because they believe that pharmacy is the profession closest to medicine, while two thirds wanted a job that involved direct contact with patients. We note that teachers played a role in guiding students' future career plans only in a minority of cases (20.4%). All these reasons were in turn mainly due to students' perception towards the pharmaceutical profession, i.e. that it is safe, respected and in demand, as well as family influence., 27(5),, 54(1), 1-8.