White and ethnic minority pharmacists' professional practice patterns and reasons for choosing pharmacy

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Abstract
The growing number of women in pharmacy practice has led to a wealth of research looking at their role and impact on the profession. While anecdotal evidence supports the view that pharmacy is also an increasingly popular profession for a large number of ethnic minority groups, there is no empirical pharmacy practice research to support the claim. A small scale postal survey was conducted to determine and compare the practice environments and reasons for embarking on a pharmacy career of white and ethnic minority pharmacists (classified using the 1991 United Kingdom census classification scheme). The sample comprised graduates of one UK school of pharmacy over a 10 year period. While the data are not generalisable, and despite small numbers in the ethnic minority group, the results indicate that ethnic minority status may contribute to different practice patterns. Ethnic minority pharmacists might be more likely to practise in community pharmacy, and to be under-represented in management positions although over-represented as owners/partners of community pharmacies. There is also some evidence to suggest that ethnic minority pharmacy graduates might have more difficulty than white pharmacy graduates in obtaining preregistration posts.