ASSESSMENT OF PROFESSIONALISM IN PHARMACISTS AND PHARMACY STUDENTS: SCOPING REVIEW OF INSTRUMENTS AND VALIDITY EVIDENCE.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize which instruments have been developed to assess professionalism in the field of Pharmacy. FINDINGS: A scoping review was conducted to answer which instruments have been developed to assess professionalism in the field of Pharmacy. The databases consulted were EMBASE, ERIC, PUBMED/Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science. No restrictions on language or year of publication were made. Only studies about development or translation of instruments for professionalism assessment were included. The methodological quality of studies was verified by the Questionnaire Cross-Cultural Adaptation Guideline and the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments. Seven studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in this scoping review. In general, the instruments were developed from ideological elements assigned to professionalism by pharmaceutical and medical entities, besides theoretical references that came from social sciences. Regarding the evaluation of validation and psychometric property evidence, the studies generally adopted distinct procedures which highlights some destandardization, although the methodological quality was accepted. SUMMARY: More studies on the professionalism field should be conducted to characterize professionalism and develop pharmaceutical practices in line with the society demands and expectations.

Brazilian Version of the Health Care Provider HIV/AIDS Stigma Scale: Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Evaluation Among Healthcare Students.

We aimed to validate the Health Care Provider HIV/AIDS Stigma Scale (HPASS) among healthcare students in Brazil. The validation process occurred in three phases from August 2022 to July 2023: translation and cross-cultural adaptation; content validity assessment involving four experts; and evaluation of psychometric properties among 553 healthcare students from the Federal University of Espírito Santo. We used exploratory factor analysis and convergent validity for structural validation. The average scale content validity index was 0.90, while the evaluation of validity evidence based on the internal structure indicated a robust explanatory model. Parallel analysis indicated that the scale is composed by two dimensions: "Discrimination/Prejudice" and "Stereotype"; the composite reliability values for these dimensions were 0.96 and 0.85, respectively. The Brazilian version of HPASS has shown to be a simple, reliable, and psychometrically valid measure to quantify HIV stigma among healthcare students who speak Brazilian Portuguese.Resumen El objetivo de este estudio fue validar la "Health Care Provider HIV/AIDS Stigma Scale" (HPASS) entre estudiantes de salud en Brasil. El proceso de validación se llevó a cabo en tres etapas: traducción y adaptación transcultural; evaluación de la validez de contenido; y evaluación de las propiedades psicométricas con estudiantes de salud de la Universidad Federal de Espírito Santo. El índice de validez de contenido promedio de la escala fue de 0.90, mientras que la evaluación de la evidencia de validez basada en la estructura interna indicó un modelo explicativo sólido. El análisis paralelo indicó que la escala está compuesta por dos dimensiones: "Discriminación/Prejuicio" y "Estereotipo". La versión brasileña de HPASS ha demostrado ser una medida simple, confiable y psicométricamente válida para cuantificar el estigma del VIH entre estudiantes de salud que hablan portugués brasileño.

Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the "Modification of Hall's professionalism scale for use with pharmacists".

BACKGROUND: Professionalism is the demonstration of behaviors that guide the actions of health professionals. In Pharmacy, its implementation is possible through assessment instruments for pharmacists, such as the "Modification of Hall's Professionalism Scale for Use with Pharmacists". OBJECTIVE: To translate the "Modification of Hall's Professionalism Scale for Use with Pharmacists" into a Brazilian Portuguese version and evaluate its psychometric properties for pharmacists. METHOD: The methodological process of this study took place in three stages: translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the instrument original version into a Brazilian Portuguese version; validation of the scale content through consensus among geographically distinct experts and, finally; examination of the scale psychometric measurement properties through a convenience sample of 600 Brazilian pharmacists. At this stage, construct validity was verified using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and reliability was examined by calculating the composite reliability. RESULTS: The adapted instrument to a Brazilian Portuguese version demonstrated content validity with coefficients considered acceptable, above 0.8. The EFA demonstrated a structure supported by six factors and 39 items. The H index suggested high stability for all factors as well as composite reliability. CONCLUSION: The Brazilian Portuguese version of the instrument presented appropriate content validity coefficients and psychometric properties. This measure may be useful for future studies on professionalism regarding teaching strategies and assessment of this construct among pharmacists.

Digital pharmacists: the new wave in pharmacy practice and education.

Pharmacists now face the biggest challenges in the history of the profession: the use of digital technologies in pharmacy practice and education and the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019. Worldwide, pharmaceutical care and pharmacy education via digital technologies have significantly increased and will be incorporated into patient care and the teaching-learning process, respectively. Thus, in this new era of pharmacy practice and education, curricula should promote the development of specific competencies for the cognitive, conscious, and effective use of digital tools. This requires the training of "disruptive" educators, who are capable of using teaching-learning methods adapted to the digital environment and educational processes suitable for stimulating the use of effective disruptive technologies. This commentary argues that the pharmacy profession can no longer wait for the slow integration of digital technologies into pharmacy practice and education.

Perception of community pharmacists about the work process of drug dispensing: a cross-sectional survey study.

BACKGROUND: Drug dispensing aims to promote rational medicine use. However, in many countries, the work processes are still not well defined. In this sense, the perception of pharmacists about dispensing practices presents an overview of how the service is being performed in the country and its main challenges. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the self-reported work process of Brazilian community pharmacists in relation to drug dispensing, challenges, and strategies for carrying out the service. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between May and July 2021, with community pharmacists from all regions of Brazil. Pharmacists were invited to answer a validated, self-administered questionnaire, implemented through Google Forms, containing 33 questions related to the steps of drug dispensing (questions and counseling) and the main challenges and strategies to perform the service. The data were exported to Microsoft Office Excel and SPSS®. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the association between responses and demographic information, with a significance level of less than 5% (p < 0.05). This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (number: 4.295.171). RESULTS: A total of 625 community pharmacists responded to the survey. Most pharmacists reported always or frequently performing 17 (54%) of the 31 steps described in the instrument. The steps that pharmacists reported performing more frequently were forming the medication name (n = 569, 91.04%), verifying the completeness and adequacy of the prescription according to current legislation (n = 567, 90.72%) and providing counseling on dosage (n = 549, 87.84%). Documentation was the main step in which pharmacists reported never or rarely performing (n = 424, 67.84%). The results showed that there was a significant influence of the variables of public education institution, age, and postgraduate education on the frequency of dispensing steps (F(3, 621) = 14.884, p < 0.001; R2ajdusted = 0,063). CONCLUSION: This study showed that most pharmacists reported always or frequently asking most of the questions and performing counseling contained in the instrument during drug dispensing. These results can contribute to an understanding of current dispensing practices and generate insights for developing strategies to qualify the service.

Development and implementation of a medication reconciliation during pediatric transitions of care in a public hospital.

OBJECTIVES: To generate effective changes in the work processes of an institution, such as hospitals, strategies are needed for the implementation of services. These should be based on the needs of the practice scenario and evidence that may develop programs applied to the routine of health care. This study aimed to implement medication reconciliation (MR) at the transition of care in the pediatric department of a public hospital located in Northeast Brazil. SETTING: A step-by-step approach was adopted to implement MR in the studied hospital and conducted from March 2019 to December 2019. PRACTICE INNOVATION: The implementation of MR used the "Model for Improvement" framework. The processes were built and tested in the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles. Children admitted to the hospital's pediatrics department were included in the study. The objective of the PDSA cycles was to reach 75% of the patients included, with the service performed in at least one transition of care episode. EVALUATION: This study used the following indicators: number of steps performed, number of discrepancies identified, and resolution of discrepancies. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed for all variables. RESULTS: In the first cycle, all patients (n = 34) had the best possible medication history (BPMH) completed, and 26.4% went through all the MR stages. Seventy-two discrepancies were identified and 90.3% of them were resolved. In the second cycle, all patients (n = 35) had the BPMH completed, and 20% went through all the stages. A total of 32 discrepancies were identified and 96.8% of them were resolved. In the third cycle, all patients (n = 30) had the BPMH completed, and 56.6% of patients went through all the stages. Twenty-four discrepancies were identified and resolved. CONCLUSION: The use of the "Model for Improvement" framework effectively contributed to the implementation of the service according to the characteristics of the studied hospital.

Communication Apprehension Among Health Professions Students in Brazil.

Objective. To determine the levels of communication apprehension experienced by health professions students in Brazil.Method. A cross-sectional study of dentistry, pharmacy, medicine, and nursing students at a Brazilian university was conducted from December 2019 to May 2020. The students were invited to complete the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) and provide demographic data. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted.Results. A total of 644 health students answered the survey, and 25.5% were classified as having high communication apprehension. Male participants had significantly lower PRCA-24 scores than female participants. No significant differences were found between PRCA-24 scores by age category or academic year. Medical students had significantly lower mean PRCA-24 scores than pharmacy students.Conclusion. The prevalence of communication apprehension was high among health professions students. Women and pharmacy students had the highest communication apprehension scores. Health educators should consider the effects of communication apprehension on students and use adequate interventions during communication skills training to alleviate this apprehension.

Collaborative attitudes between pharmacists and physicians in Brazil

Abstract Pharmacist-physician collaboration is a strategy for optimizing patient care and improving health outcomes. Nevertheless, there is a lack of information in Brazil about collaborative practices among these professionals. The aim of this study was to measure collaborative attitude of pharmacists and physicians who were working together in a teaching hospital. A cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2018 to January 2019 with pharmacists and physicians working in a teaching hospital in Northeastern Brazil. These professionals were invited to provide responses to the Brazilian version of the "Scale of Attitudes Towards Pharmacist-Physician Collaboration" (SATP2C); their scores ranged between 16 and 64 points. The software Epi Info TM (version 3.5.4) was used for data analysis, and data were expressed in means. Forty-four professionals participated in this study. The mean age was 33.5 (DP = 7.1) years. More than half of participants were male (n = 25, 56.8%). The means from the SATP2C for pharmacists and physicians were 54.20 and 50.91, respectively, indicating good collaborative attitudes. There was no statistical difference between the mean scores of pharmacists and physicians. Participants showed a predisposition for collaborative teamwork. Future studies should focus on understanding the process by which collaboration translates into clinical practice

The quality of research on judicialization and its influence on public policies on access to medicines in Brazil: a systematic review.

Patients without access to medicines often resort to the judicial system. However, no systematic review has discussed the quality of studies and the factors that may influence the access to medicines from judicialization. This study aimed to characterize the quality of research on access to judicialized medicines and their influence on public policies in Brazil. A search was conducted in the LILACS, PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science databases using the terms "judicialization" and "medication". Two reviewers identified articles that met the inclusion criteria. Only studies written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish published from 1990 to 2018 were included. The study selection resulted in a final sample of 45 articles. The retrospective descriptive design was the most common methods, based on reports and lawsuits. A high level of heterogeneity among the studies hindered the comparison and generation of evidence capable of supporting judges' decisions based on technical-scientific criteria. This review showed that studies were heterogeneous and had low methodological quality. Moreover, they did not propose viable solutions for health managers and formulators to face the problem.

The quality of research on judicialization and its influence on public policies on access to medicines in Brazil: a systematic review / A qualidade das pesquisas sobre judicialização e sua influência nas políticas públicas de acesso aos medicamentos no Brasil: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract Patients without access to medicines often resort to the judicial system. However, no systematic review has discussed the quality of studies and the factors that may influence the access to medicines from judicialization. This study aimed to characterize the quality of research on access to judicialized medicines and their influence on public policies in Brazil. A search was conducted in the LILACS, PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science databases using the terms "judicialization" and "medication". Two reviewers identified articles that met the inclusion criteria. Only studies written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish published from 1990 to 2018 were included. The study selection resulted in a final sample of 45 articles. The retrospective descriptive design was the most common methods, based on reports and lawsuits. A high level of heterogeneity among the studies hindered the comparison and generation of evidence capable of supporting judges' decisions based on technical-scientific criteria. This review showed that studies were heterogeneous and had low methodological quality. Moreover, they did not propose viable solutions for health managers and formulators to face the problem.

Resumo Pacientes sem acesso a medicamentos geralmente recorrem ao sistema judicial. No entanto, nenhuma revisão sistemática discutiu a qualidade dos estudos e os fatores que podem influenciar o acesso aos medicamentos pela judicialização. Este estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar a qualidade da pesquisa sobre acesso a medicamentos judicializados e sua influência nas políticas públicas no Brasil. Foi realizada uma pesquisa nas bases de dados LILACS, PubMed/Medline, Scopus e Web of Science usando os termos "judicialization" e "medication". Dois revisores identificaram artigos que atendiam aos critérios de inclusão. Apenas estudos escritos em inglês, português ou espanhol publicados de 1990 a 2018 foram incluídos. A seleção do estudo resultou em uma amostra final de 45 artigos. O desenho descritivo retrospectivo foi o método mais comum, com base em relatos e ações judiciais. Um alto nível de heterogeneidade entre os estudos impediu a comparação e a geração de evidências capazes de apoiar as decisões dos juízes com base em critérios técnico-científicos. Esta revisão mostrou que os estudos eram heterogêneos e apresentavam baixa qualidade metodológica. Além disso, não propuseram soluções viáveis ​​para gerentes e formuladores de saúde enfrentarem o problema.

Correction: Brazilian version of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension: Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric evaluation among healthcare students.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246075.].

Medication discrepancies in transition of care of hospitalised children in Brazil: a multicentric study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of medication discrepancies in transition points of care of hospitalised children. DESIGN: A prospective observational multicentre study was carried out between February and August 2019. Data collection consisted of the following steps: sociodemographic data collection, clinical interview with the patient's caregiver, review of patient prescriptions and evaluation of medical records. Medication discrepancies were classified as intentional (documented or undocumented) and unintentional. In addition, discrepancies identified were categorised according to the medication discrepancy taxonomy. Unintentional discrepancies were assessed for potential clinical harm to the patient. SETTING: Paediatric clinics of four teaching hospitals in Brazil. PATIENTS: Children aged 1 month-12 years. FINDINGS: A total of 248 children were included, 77.0% (n=191) patients had at least one intentional discrepancy; 20.2% (n=50) patients had at least one unintended discrepancy and 15.3% (n=38) patients had at least one intentional discrepancy and an unintentional one. The reason for the intentional discrepancy was not documented in 49.6% (n=476) of the cases. The most frequent unintentional discrepancy was medication omission (54.1%; n=66). Low potential to cause discomfort was found in 53 (43.4%) unintentional discrepancies, while 55 (45.1%) had the potential to cause moderate discomfort and 14 (11.5%) could potentially cause severe discomfort. CONCLUSIONS: Although most medication discrepancies were intentional, the majority of these were not documented by the healthcare professionals. Unintentional discrepancies were often related to medication omission and had a potential risk of causing harm to hospitalised children.

Causality and avoidability of adverse drug reactions of antibiotics in hospitalized children: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Adverse drug reactions are a problem in healthcare systems worldwide. Children are more susceptible than adults, especially when exposed to specific drug classes, such as antibiotics. OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence, causality, severity, and avoidability of antibiotic-associated adverse drug reactions in hospitalized pediatric patients. SETTING: Pediatric ward of a high-complexity public hospital in northeast Brazil. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted over six months, including children aged between 28 days and 12 years, hospitalized for more than 48 h, and receiving antibiotics. Liverpool's causality and avoidability assessment tools were used. Primary outcome measures: Incidence of adverse drug reactions, causality, severity, and avoidability, major antibiotics implicated, risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 183 patients were followed, and 35 suspected adverse drug reactions were recorded overall incidence equal to 14.7%. Most adverse drug reactions were classified as moderate severity (76.7%), probable (57.1%) and defined (28.6%) causality, and unavoidable (66.7%). The affected organs were the gastrointestinal system (74.1%) and skin (25.9%). Major antibiotics implicated were ceftriaxone (40.7%), azithromycin (25.9%), and crystalline penicillin (11.1%). The number of antibiotics prescribed per patient during hospitalization and the length of stay were the risk factors identified. CONCLUSION: Causality and severity assessment indicated that most adverse drug reactions were probable and moderate. Possibly avoidable reactions occurred due to inappropriate prescribing when preventive measures were not implemented. Monitoring the use of antibiotics in children is essential to ensure the safety of these patients.

Brazilian version of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension: Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric evaluation among healthcare students.

INTRODUCTION: Communication apprehension (CA) refers to an individual's level of fear or anxiety toward either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons. The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) is the most widely used measure of CA, even among healthcare students. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to undertake a cross-cultural adaptation of this scale, translate it into Brazilian Portuguese, and examine its psychometric properties among healthcare students. METHODS: The translation and cross-cultural adaptation procedures were undertaken with the objective of establishing compatibility between the original and translated scales. The content validity of the scale was established based on the feedback of a multidisciplinary expert committee. Its psychometric properties were evaluated using a convenience sample of 616 healthcare students. Its construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Its internal consistency was examined by computing Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients. Its criterion validity was examined against the Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale (ICCS). RESULTS: The adapted scale demonstrated acceptable content validity. EFA showed that it was undergirded by one dimension, and this observation was confirmed by the results of CFA. The scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency. Its convergent validity was examined by conducting correlation analysis, and scores on the adapted PRCA-24 were negatively correlated with scores on the ICCS. CONCLUSION: The Brazilian version of the PRCA-24 has satisfactory psychometric properties and is, therefore, suitable for use with Brazilian healthcare students. It can be used to assess their communication needs for the purpose of designing tailored training programs.

Prevalence of medication discrepancies in pediatric patients transferred between hospital wards.

Background Children are more susceptible to harm from medication errors and adverse drug reactions when compared to adults. Such events may occur from medication discrepancies while transitioning patients throughout the healthcare system. Contributing factors include medication discontinuity and lack of information by the healthcare team. Objective To analyze the prevalence of medication discrepancies in transition points of care in a pediatric department. Setting Pediatric department of a public hospital in Northeast Brazil. Method A cross-sectional study was carried out from August 2017 to March 2018. Data collection consisted of the following steps: collection of sociodemographic data, clinical interview with the patient's caregiver, registration of patient prescriptions, and evaluation of medical records. Medication discrepancies were classified as intentional and unintentional. The unintentional medication discrepancies were classified as omission of medication, therapeutic duplicity, and differences in dose, frequency, or route of administration. Main outcomes measure Discrepancy profile identified at admission, internal transfer and hospital discharge. Results Among the 114 patients included in the study, 85 (74.5%) patients had at least one unintentional medication discrepancy, of which 16 (14.0%) patients presented medication discrepancies at hospital admission, 42 (36.8%) patients at internal transfer, and 52 (45.6%) patients during discharge. Omission of medication represented 20 (74.1%) errors at admission, 26 (37.7%) errors at internal transfer, and 80 (100.0%) errors at hospital discharge. Conclusions The main transition points of care where unintentional discrepancies occurred in the studied pediatric department were at internal transfer and hospital discharge, with omission being the most common type of unintentional discrepancy.

Development and content validation of an instrument to support pharmaceutical counselling for dispensing of prescribed medicines.

RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES: Counselling is essential in drug dispensing, since it enables patients to receive and understand the information to correctly use their medicines. Although counselling is a quality indicator on drug dispensing, models that guide pharmacists in this practice are scarce. Thus, this study aimed to develop and validate the content of an instrument to support pharmaceutical counselling for dispensing of prescribed medicines. METHOD: A two-stage validation study was conducted out from February to October 2017. The first stage involved the development of the instrument, and the second involved content validation. Instrument development included the following three steps: (1) drafting of the prototype; (2) an academic brainstorming meeting, and (3) a pre-Delphi process. Content validation was then conducted using the Delphi technique. At this stage, 40 pharmacists who were experts in drug dispensing, were invited to assess the instrument. Consensus among experts was calculated according to the content validity index (CVI). RESULTS: The development stage generated three versions of the instrument: the prototype, Version 1 (modified after brainstorming meeting), and Version 2 (modified after the pre-Delphi process). Version 2 underwent the content validation process, in which 29 pharmacists participated during the first round (rate of return: 72.5%) and 23 of these during the second round (rate of return: 79.31%). All items obtained CVI > 0.82 and were thus considered to be validated. The final instrument comprised three components: suggestions for questions, dispensing process reasoning, and suggestions for counselling, and other conduct in 11 stages, each representing a step in the clinical reasoning process. CONCLUSIONS: An instrument was developed to support pharmaceutical counselling for dispensing of prescribed medicines, suggesting main questions, counselling, and conduct to be taken by pharmacists, and its content validity was verified.

Instrumentos para avaliação de habilidades de comunicação no cuidado em saúde no Brasil: uma revisão de escopo / Instruments for assessing communication skills in the area of healthcare in Brazil: a scoping review / Instrumentos para evaluación de habilidades de comunicación en el cuidado de salud en Brasil: una revisión de alcance

O ensino de habilidades de comunicação é indispensável aos profissionais de saúde. Este estudo objetivou identificar instrumentos validados no português do Brasil que avaliam habilidades de comunicação de estudantes ou profissionais da saúde. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão de escopo que incluiu estudos de validação de instrumentos para avaliação de habilidades de comunicação de estudantes/profissionais da área da Saúde. Foram identificados quatro instrumentos, traduzidos e validados para o português do Brasil. Validação de conteúdo, validação de construto e o teste de consistência interna foram realizados com maior frequência. Esta revisão identificou um número reduzido de instrumentos para avaliar habilidades de comunicação e dados limitados de validade e confiabilidade dos instrumentos.(AU)

Teaching communication skills to health professionals is extremely important. This study aimed to identify instruments validated for Brazilian Portuguese that assess communication skills of health students or professionals. We carried out a scoping review that included validation studies of instruments for assessing communication skills of students/professionals from the area of Health. Four instruments were identified, translated into Brazilian Portuguese and validated for this language. Content validation, construct validation and the internal consistency test were the most frequently performed ones. This review identified a reduced number of instruments to assess communication skills and limited data about the instruments' validity and reliability.(AU)

La enseñanza de habilidades de comunicación es indispensable para los profesionales de la salud. El objetivo de este estudio fue identificar instrumentos validados en portugués de Brasil que evalúan habilidades de comunicación de estudiantes o profesionales de la salud. Para ello, se realizó una revisión de alcance que incluyó estudios de validación de instrumentos para evaluación de habilidades de comunicación de estudiantes/profesionales del área de la salud. Se identificaron cuatro instrumentos, traducidos y validados al portugués de Brasil. La validación de contenido, la validación del constructo y el test de consistencia interna se realizaron con mayor frecuencia. Esta revisión identificó un número reducido de instrumentos para evaluar habilidades de comunicación y datos limitados de validez y confiabilidad de los instrumentos.(AU)

Sign Language in Brazilian Pharmacy Education.

Objective. To evaluate undergraduate pharmacy curricula at Federal Institutions of Higher Education in Brazil in order to identify sign language courses and other content related to the provision of care to deaf patients. Methods. A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted between March and June 2017. Data were collected from the websites of undergraduate pharmacy education programs in Brazil. Sign language courses were classified according to type (mandatory or elective), nature (theoretical or theoretical-practical), course period and workload. The course contents were extracted and analyzed by content analysis. Results. Of the 35 schools of pharmacy included in the study, 18 (51.4%) included a sign language course in their curriculum. Eighteen (100%) of the sign language courses were elective, one (5.6%) was theorical-practical, 16 (89.0%) did not have a predetermined point in the curriculum for students to complete the course, and 11 (61.1%) had a workload equal to or greater than 60 hours. The main pedagogical content identified related to the teaching and learning of sign language. Conclusion. Learning sign language in undergraduate pharmacy is important for these professionals could provide humanistic and integral care to deaf patients. Therefore, there is considerable room for improvement in teaching sign language to undergraduate pharmacy students in Brazil.