Voluntary work of pharmacy students in two regions of South Korea without the separation of the dispensary from medical practice

Background: Participation in a medical volunteer work positively affects some of the beliefs and perceptions of pharmacy students. However, the volunteer activities by pharmacy students have been rarely performed and studied in Korea. The objectives of this study were to introduce the volunteer activities by pharmacists and pharmacy students at the medically underserved regions without separation of prescribing and dispensing in Korea and to determine health conditions and prevalence and management of chronic diseases (CDs) in the residents of these regions. Methods: Survey instruments consisting of 23 questions were administered to the residents who visited the temporary pharmacy during the volunteer services. Results: A total of 352 residents completed the survey, and 66.3% of residents were over 70 years old. More than 12% of residents responded that their health conditions were good, and 76.5% of residents had at least 1 CD. Over 73% of residents responded that they took all doses of medications prescribed while 5.7% of residents answered that they missed all those of them. Conclusions: Through the volunteer activities, pharmacists and pharmacy students will play a meaningful role in providing a medical care in order to effectively manage CDs at the medically underserved areas in Korea.