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. 2018 Jun 28;16(1):28.
doi: 10.1186/s12960-018-0294-8.

The status of licensed pharmacy workforce in Saudi Arabia: a 2030 economic vision perspective

Yazed AlRuthia  1 , Mohammad A Alsenaidy  2 , Haitham K Alrabiah  3 , Abdullah AlMuhaisen  4 , Mohammad Alshehri  4
Affiliations

The status of licensed pharmacy workforce in Saudi Arabia: a 2030 economic vision perspective

Yazed AlRuthia et al. Hum Resour Health. .

Abstract

Background: The economy of Saudi Arabia is currently undergoing a major transformation which will have an impact on employment in the pharmacy sector. However, quantitative data characterizing the pharmacy workforce in the Kingdom are currently not available. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the current status of the licensed pharmacy workforce in the pharmacy field in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: Descriptive statistics were performed on data from the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) as of March 2017.

Results: The labor market for pharmacists in Saudi Arabia is dominated by expatriates. Saudi nationals constitute less than 20% of the pharmacists employed in the Kingdom. The underemployment of Saudis is most evident in the largest sectors of the pharmacy field, namely, private health care establishments, community pharmacies, and pharmaceutical companies.

Conclusion: There is an unmet need to train Saudi citizens as pharmacists and retain them in the workforce. Addressing this issue should become an important objective in Saudi Arabia's Vision for 2030.

Keywords: Community pharmacy; Pharmacist; Pharmacy workforce.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Institutional Review Board approvals for this study were obtained from the College of Pharmacy at the King Saud University and from the SCFHS.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The percentage of Saudis in the pharmacy workforce of the Kingdom
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The number and percentage of Saudis and non-Saudis in different pharmacy sectors
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The number of pharmacists per 100 000 people in the provinces of the Kingdom
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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