Satisfaction on educational training quality amongst college pharmacist alumni in Vietnam

This study aimed to determine the factors affecting the satisfaction of 3-year-programme college pharmacy alumni on training/educational quality at a pharmacy college in Vietnam. A cross-sectional research using a purposive sampling method was conducted on the alumni who had recently graduated in 2020 of a pharmacy college in Hai Duong, Vietnam. Data collection was conducted in two phases from November 2021 to January 2022, with the first phase being an online survey through Google Forms and the second phase being phone interviews and the use of the Zalo application. The quality of educational training was evaluated using 21 items, with an additional item designated for overall satisfaction. Exploratory factor analysis identified the four factors from the 21 items assessing training quality, whereas multivariate regression analysis determined the relationship between satisfaction factors and the overall satisfaction. A total of 282 complete records were obtained. The college pharmacist alumni’s satisfaction with the training qualities is influenced by four main factors, with internal consistency assessed using Cronbach’s alpha (α): the training staff (α = 0.93), the facilities and environment qualities (α = 0.91), the training programmes (α = 0.88) and the administrative formalities and support activities (α = 0.84). All factors had a positive impact on alumni satisfaction, the training staff factor (β = 0.460, P < 0.001) had the greatest impact on the alumni satisfaction. This study identified four factors affecting the satisfaction of college pharmacy alumni on training quality, including (1) the training staff, (2) the facilities and environmental qualities, (3) the training programmes and (4) the administrative formalities and support activities. To enhance training quality and alumni satisfaction, educational institutions should focus on innovating the teaching methods of the faculty, shifting from traditional teaching methods to active teaching methods that make lectures dynamic and help students develop necessary skills, as well as organizing training sessions and practical visits to improve specialized knowledge and practical experience for the faculty.