Relational professional identity: How do pharmacy students see themselves in relation to others?

Background: As the pharmacy profession moves towards patient-centred care, pharmacy schools have updated their curricula to prepare students for a full scope of practice. A critical objective of the new curricula is the professional socialization of pharmacy students into relational aspects of the profession: how pharmacists should interact with patients and other health care professionals. Through an examination of how one cohort of pharmacy students perceives its relationship to patients and physicians, this study aims to determine how these relational aspects of professional identity evolve with time spent in the program.