OBJECTIVES:  To identify people´s knowledge and practices related to rational use of antibiotics in Panama.   METHODS: On October, 2015 Students from the pharmacy school of la Universidad Latina de Panama, randomly applied surveys to 130 private pharmacies in four largest cities of the Republic of Panamá, following the national registry of the Ministry of Health.   Ten people were selected at the exit of those pharmacies and were given the survey about rational use of antibiotics in a 4 hours interval. Bioethics and Research Committee of the Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud approved the study. RESULTS: From the 1264 people surveyed 62% was located at the capital of Panama. 83% of the people surveyed declared they took antibiotics, 24% said it was useful to treat bacterial infections and 30% said they were useful to treat any kind of infection.  72% admitted they had taken them under medical prescription, 6% declared they took them because of a recommendation made at the pharmacy. 58% took antibiotics following the dose and for the amount of time of the doctor´s prescription. 22% said they took it until they felt better. 79%of the people surveyed agreed in the fact it was necessary to have a prescription in order to obtain antibiotics.  CONCLUSIONS: Most of the population ignores the proper use of the antibiotics, that´s the reason behind the self-medication practices found on the study. That´s why it´s so important to educated people on the subject, in order to avoid the further development of bacterial resistance.