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ObjectiveAs lifelong learners, hospital pharmacists must continually improve their self-directed learning skills. Reasonable learning strategies have been proven to enhance self-directed learning (SDL) significantly. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the SDL strategies used by hospital pharmacists in depth to provide them with a reference for the development of their SDL skills.SettingThe study was conducted in three tertiary hospitals in Henan, China.Design and participantsThis study employed a multicentre qualitative design and lasted 12 months. One-on-one interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. All interviews were transcribed verbatim, and the interview data were analysed using the thematic analysis method. Purposive sampling was used to select interviewees (n=17) from three tertiary hospitals in Henan province in central China.ResultsAfter conducting data analysis, we summarised 12 learning strategies related to SDL, which were grouped into four themes: use of information resources, application of cognitive strategies, development of learning plans and use of learning platforms.ConclusionThe findings suggest that classic learning strategies, such as cognitive strategies and the development of learning plans, remain the cornerstones of hospital pharmacists’ SDL abilities, while contemporary advances in information technology and changes in learning concepts have enriched the learning resources and learning platforms that are available to hospital pharmacists and have confronted contemporary hospital pharmacists with certain challenges.