Immigrant pharmacists in Portugal: a qualitative exploration of their work-related attitudes

Background: There are no data about the immigrant pharmacist population in Portugal, including their perceptions on adaptation to the Portuguese professional and social context.

Objective: To explore the perceptions and adaptation of the immigrant pharmacists' community in Portugal, with regards to their practice and life, in general.

Method: A cross-sectional mail questionnaire was sent to all immigrant community pharmacists registered with the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society (N=771). Descriptive statistics and an iterative reflexive coding process were used to characterize participants' perceptions and attitudes.

Results: Of 36 valid questionnaires 75.0% were females, with a median age of 33 years, mostly citizens from Europe (eg, France) and South America (eg, Brazil). Immigrant pharmacists reported 61.1% overall satisfaction with their decision of coming to Portugal. However, the general perception of the immigrant pharmacists was that the attitudes of their Portuguese colleagues and managers were negative towards them. Nevertheless, positive beliefs, as compared to those in their home country (e.g., strong professional bodies), were also reported.

Conclusion: Portuguese pharmaceutical authorities need to consider immigrant colleagues' concerns. Further research is needed to determine the prevalence of these and other findings.