Objective: The role of pharmacists have expanded from prescription filling and over-the-counter product sales to providing patient-centered care, including drug counseling and drug therapy monitoring. The aim of this study was to determine Korean community and hospital pharmacists’ primary methods of clinical knowledge acquisition and their level of satisfaction. Methods: The study was administered to pharmacists in Cheonan area by a questionnaire. Results: Among the 85 respondents, majority (85.9%) reported engaging at least 1 hr every week in acquiring clinical knowledge. Most popular resources utilized, in the order of frequency, were drug search engines, internet search, package inserts, pharmacyrelated articles and peer pharmacists. While hospital pharmacists utilized the drug search engine, peer pharmacists, online seminars, required annual continuing education, and graduate school lectures significantly more than community pharmacists, pharmacy-related articles were more frequently utilized by community pharmacists. However, the satisfactory level of these resources on average were only 3.3 ± 0.8 on a 5-point scale and respondents suggested that increased availability of online seminars would be helpful to acquire clinical knowledge. Conclusion: While majority of the pharmacists were readily engaged in clinical knowledge acquisition, the level of satisfaction in general was less than somewhat satisfactory, which suggests a need for improvement and development of clinical knowledge resources for practicing pharmacists in Korea.

Keywords: Pharmacist, Clinical, Knowledge, Resource, Method, Satisfaction