Workplace learning and professional identity formation in university-allocated pharmacy placements: A scoping review to inform curriculum development

BACKGROUND: Workplace learning is central to pharmacy education, offering authentic experiences that foster students' professional identity formation as they transition into the pharmacist role. Research in this area is growing but is methodologically varied, spanning multiple theories, student cohorts, and practice settings, without an overarching synthesis. This scoping review aimed to generate recommendations for pharmacy curriculum development from studies relating to professional identity formation and workplace learning opportunities, specifically university-allocated placements. METHODS: Peer-reviewed journal articles were obtained from searching four databases, using synonyms for workplace learning, professional identity formation, and pharmacy students. Extracted data focused on key concepts and study design features that were analysed inductively, then findings were interpreted to generate recommendations. RESULTS: Sixteen studies were analysed. Most research was exploratory, relied on qualitative or self-report methods, and focused on later-year students in hospital or community settings. Definitions of professional identity formation and workplace learning varied and most had to be inferred. Reported outcomes highlighted relationships among professionalism, placement experiences, and developing identity, but few studies used robust indicators or evaluative designs. IMPLICATIONS: This review highlights that research on pharmacy students' professional identity formation in workplace settings is largely exploratory. Greater use of evaluative, longitudinal, and mixed methods designs that integrate behavioural, reflective, and validated measures are needed to strengthen evidence quality. This area would benefit from clearer theoretical alignment, shared definitions, and broader sampling across learner stages and practice settings, to enable more robust comparisons and targeted curriculum development.