This research investigated how professional identities are developed among final-year Doctor of Pharmacy students, with particular attention to the social, educational, and experiential influences shaping this process.A qualitative instrumental case study was conducted at a single academic institution, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. Thirteen fourth-year pharmacy students were recruited and interviewed using a semi-structured format. Data were interpreted through a poststructural social identity lens to examine how students construct and negotiate their professional identities.Five central influences on professional identity development emerged from the analysis: motivations for entering the pharmacy profession, educational content and structure, practice settings, relationships with preceptors, and experiences with patients. The program’s curriculum foregrounded the role of pharmacist as health care provider, encouraging students to envision themselves primarily as clinicians. Consequently, students evaluated and, at times, rejected preceptors and practice environments that constrained their ability to perform this clinician-oriented identity.The study demonstrates that pharmacy students tend to prioritize a health care provider identity, which may limit recognition of other meaningful professional roles within pharmacy practice. These findings highlight the need for educational approaches that more explicitly recognize and legitimize a plurality of pharmacist identities to support a resilient and adaptable future workforce.
