We provided training to students to raise their understanding of patient compliance instruction as part of the community pharmacy practice curriculum in our pharmacy school.In this study,we investigated whether the training made patient compliance instruction worthwhile to students,and analyzed their thinking processes in this respect in order to clarify the process of professional socialization.The questionnaire used for these purposes consisted of 27 questions on learning and 1 extra question on whether students felt patient compliance instruction was worthwhile.Responses were evaluated according to a 7 point scale and it was given to 128 students who participated in the training in 2007.Questions on learning were prepared by the KJ-method based on the reports of 43 students who participated in patient compliance instruction training in 2006.The average for the response to the question on whether patient compliance instruction training is worthwhile was 6.27 (max.7).Further,factor analysis on the responses of 124 students who completed all items of the questionnaire,produced three factors:“skills required for patient compliance instruction”,“difficulty of patient compliance instruction”and “need for pharmacist intervention”.In addition,covariance structure analysis suggested that through the training,students felt the“difficulty of patient compliance instruction” which provided the opportunity to be aware of the“skills required for patient compliance instruction” and the“need for pharmacist intervention”.These two factors seemed to be involved in the thinking process by which students felt that patient compliance instruction was worthwhile.