Ethical or moral values can not be learned in a day. They require years of experience about life to come up with the ethical theories. Therefore, ethical or moral role in a mature adult is not only the responsibility of the school, but it is also the responsibilities of the parents, the religion, and the society.
As a scientist about to embark on careers in the medical field, I do not feel that my entire pharmacy school curriculum has prepared me for the ethical/moral role I will play in the community. Ethics and moral values should be learned in childhood through the parents as they raise the child. The environment in which the child grows up and the religion should further shape a child ethical values and role. The school is also responsible for developing a person’s moral values as long as he/she is attending school. Although the pharmacy school curriculum has addressed some aspect of the ethical/morale role through school courses and the Oath of a Pharmacist in which I will have to play in the community, its coverage of the subject is not enough. The major courses at the Albany College of Pharmacy (ACP) that have taught me of the ethical role as a pharmacist are the Pharmacy Practice and Ethics (PPE), Pharmacy Administration, and the Healthcare and Human Value (HCHV). The ethical role is also scattered in courses such as Pharmaceutics , Biopharmaceutics, and Pharmacotherapy especially when the professors introduce case studies related to medication errors.
I do not feel my interactions with the campus community have reinforced my ethical/moral commitment to the profession. I think the ethical role should be learned immediately upon entering the professional education years (or 3rd year of pharmacy school) and its learning should have lasted (not just scattered) until the end of the professional education. The ethical role as a pharmacist should be learned through the Medicinal Chemistry courses and all the required courses through case stories related...