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Article History

Received: 6 March 2026

Accepted: 18 June 2026

First Online: 20 June 2026

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical approval was obtained from the research and ethics committee of Mbarara University of Science and Technology with approval number (MUST-2025-382). The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant institutional guidelines. Participation in the study was voluntary, and participants were informed of their right to withdraw at any time without consequence. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before data collection. Additionally, verbal consent was obtained for audio recording of interviews before each interview.

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Competing interests: The principal investigator teaches and assesses students in the Department of Pharmacy at Mbarara University of Science and Technology where the study was conducted. To mitigate potential bias arising from this relationship, all student interviews were conducted by an independent research assistant with no grading authority over the participants. During data analysis, investigator triangulation was employed whereby the principal investigator and the research assistant independently coded transcripts and compared coding structures, resolving discrepancies through discussion.