scholarly journals Students’ Feedback on the Development of a Competency-Based Pharmacy Education (CBPE) at the University of Tartu, Estonia

Pharmacy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Daisy Volmer ◽  
Kristiina Sepp ◽  
Ain Raal

Increasing need in society to provide collaborative and patient-centered pharmaceutical care has to be addressed in curriculum development. Principles of competency-based pharmacy education (CBPE) could be seen as one solution to the new professional challenges of pharmacists. At the University of Tartu (UT), the Pharmacy curriculum was updated in 2019 to introduce principles of CBPE. The aim of this study was to gather initial students’ feedback on the development of CBPE at the UT. The survey was conducted in the spring semester of the 2019/2020 academic year to collect feedback about all curricula at the UT. All 1st, 3rd, and 5th year pharmacy students (n = 67) were invited and 70.1% (N = 47) of them also participated in this study in order to evaluate the Pharmacy curriculum. Pharmacy students were more complacent with the content and less with the fixed structure of the Pharmacy curriculum. Students emphasized more theoretical knowledge and less practical and transferable skills of the competencies developed over the studies. Initial student feedback on the development of CBPE in Estonia demonstrated that theoretical knowledge needs to be more integrated with practice throughout the curriculum. In the future, more attention should be paid to the development of transferable skills, including digital skills.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rana Abu Farha ◽  
Eman Elayeh ◽  
Needa Zalloum ◽  
Tareq Mukattash ◽  
Eman Alefishat ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The fact that pharmacists are in the front line of patients’ care gives a great responsibility to focus on education and training of pharmacy students to build a ‘patient-centered’ clinicians. Unfortunately, pharmacy education in the developing countries, have been lagging behind actual practice delivered by pharmacists. This highlighted the need to evaluate the perceptions of undergraduate pharmacy students regarding their current pharmacy training practices and experiences. Methods This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted in Jordan during the period from August 2018 to October 2018. During the study period, a questionnaire was distributed to pharmacy students to collect information regarding 1) pharmaceutical care services provided by them during their experiential training, 2) their perceptions towards training sites, 3) their perceptions of the outcomes of their training experience, 4) information about their training site and 5) their demographics characteristics. Results A total of 202 pharmacy students responded to the questionnaire. The majority of them reported having the opportunity to dispense refill or new prescriptions (73.8%, n = 149), and conduct patient interviews (69.8%, n = 141, but they were not provided good opportunities to create electronic patient profiles using the information obtained (53.0%, n = 107), perform required dose calculations based on patient information (37.6%, n = 76), and interact with other healthcare professionals (34.6%, n = 70). In addition, students showed positive attitudes toward training sites, positive feedback about the outcomes of their training experience (median scores range between 4 and 5 for all statements (IQR = 1 for all)). Conclusion Students showed positive feedback about the outcomes of their training experience, but they felt that the selected training sites do not have adequate resources to meet their training competencies. Memorandums of understanding development is needed to specify the purpose of training and define the responsibility for both parties of the training process.


2020 ◽  
pp. 15-16
Author(s):  
B.K. Lawal ◽  
A. Haruna ◽  
F.S. Kurfi ◽  
K.B. David

Since March 2020, all schools in Nigeria have been closed to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This paper presents the case study of the e-learning strategies adopted by Kaduna State University to reduce the educational disruption during these unprecedented times. As the University had no established e-learning resources, there was a need for prompt training of staff in online teaching. The online teaching methods to be adopted came with their fair share of challenges as e-learning activities had not been taking place at the University prior to the emergence of COVID-19. The University, with the full support of the state government, were making plans to ensure a fixed structure for the integration of e-learning into the syllabus. This case study provides some recommendations that could be adopted by similar institutions that have no previous e-learning structures. The COVID-19 pandemic has opened up opportunities to upgrade the educational mode of delivery and shown the need to embrace emerging technologies.


Pharmacy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 198
Author(s):  
Tanja Fens ◽  
Claudia M. Dantuma-Wering ◽  
Katja Taxis

The profile of the profession of pharmacists has profoundly changed over the last decades. Pharmacy education has moved towards competency-based education. The pharmacy game, called GIMMICS®, developed at the University of Groningen, is unique in combining simulation with serious gaming to teach a wide range of competencies. In this article, we describe the learning goals, the assessment methods, the teaching tools, and the students’ view of the pharmacy game. The learning goals are to train the competencies of collaboration, leadership, communication, and pharmaceutical expertise. The core of the game is the simulation of community pharmacy practice activities, such as patient counseling, processing of prescriptions, and collaboration with other health professionals. Students are assessed individually and as a pharmacy team. The pharmacy team, with the largest number of patients wins the game. Student evaluations show that they value the course. Currently, seven universities from around the globe have adopted the pharmacy game in their curriculum, adjusting the course to their country’s pharmacy practice and educational system.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-129
Author(s):  
Zoriah Aziz ◽  
Tey Xin Yi ◽  
Syireen Alwia ◽  
Chong Nyuk Jet

Students have preferences about how they like to learn. Available evidence suggests that understanding students’ learning style is helpful in providing them a successful learning experience. The aim of the study was to determine the learning styles preferences of pharmacy students. The Honey and Mumford’s Learning Style Questionnaire (LSQ) was administered twice to all undergraduate pharmacy students (n=240) in the University of Malaya, Malaysia. The LSQ covered four different learning preferences: activist, reflector, theorist and pragmatist. The LSQ showed satisfactory test-retest correlation (0.57 to 0.66) and moderate internal reliability (0.53 to 0.61). Reflector learning style was the most common among the students (60.4%) followed by theorist and pragmatist (both 8.8%) and activist (6.2%). Another 15.8% of the students did not show any dominant learning styles. The preferred learning styles were statistically independent of the demographic variables examined such as level of academic year, sex, race and pre-university qualifications. A range of teaching methods and learning activities should be provided in pharmacy education in order to match the variety of learning styles.


1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-88
Author(s):  
Eric T Edgell ◽  
Michael D Caplette ◽  
Karl J Gregor ◽  
Mark T Flynn ◽  
Stephen Joel Coons

Objective: To initiate the research process of investigating how pharmacy education affects the health status of pharmacy students. Design: Student functioning and well-being were assessed within two pharmacy classes at two points in time. Setting: College of Pharmacy, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Participants: Students enrolled in either their first (class of 1997) or third (class of 1995) professional year of The University of Arizona's 4-year Doctor of Pharmacy degree program. Main Outcome Measure: The RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0. Results: No significant mean score differences were found between the classes, and the mean scores for the first-year class remained stable during the semester. The third-year class's mean scores for the emotional well-being and emotional problem-related role functioning scales decreased significantly during the semester. Conclusions: Pharmacy school may affect students' functioning and well-being in different and unique ways compared with medical school. Additional research should be conducted to assess changes in pharmacy student health status and to develop mechanisms to help counter any negative impact that may occur during pharmacy school.


2021 ◽  
pp. 334-343
Author(s):  
Yazan S. Batarseh ◽  
Michael J. Rouse ◽  
Rowan AlEjielat ◽  
Anas Khaleel ◽  
Mohammad Aluwidi ◽  
...  

Objective: To describe, introduce, and assess student perceptions of a structured clinical training programme for pharmacy students that meets the expectations of advanced pharmacy practice experiences of Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) programmes accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. Methods: A clinical training programme was held from July to September 2019. Training included hands-on hospital rotations focusing on essential pillars of pharmaceutical care including ensuring proper medical indication, effectiveness, safety, and patient adherence (total of 160 hours). The study population included 35 senior pharmacy students from the University of Petra. Results: Qualitative answers from students showed positive responses associated with the programme’s pre-training orientation, clinical training, preceptors involved, and student’s clinical knowledge and skills. Conclusion: The piloted introduction of a structured clinical training programme for pharmacy students was successful. Students reported positive evaluations and perceptions of clinical training sites and staff as well as their clinical and practical skills. The main challenge students encountered was transportation to the practice site.


2021 ◽  
pp. 538-545
Author(s):  
Sharon Youmans ◽  
Marcus Ferrone

Introduction: The University of California San Francisco School of Pharmacy has a rich tradition of transforming curricula to graduate pharmacists who are equipped to serve the current and future healthcare needs of the public. Description of programme: This paper describes the process of the design, build, and implementation of a three-year, year-round, competency-based, integrated, Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum with a pass/no pass grading policy. Evaluation: A variety of data streams are in place to collect data on courses, teaching, and student performance as part of continuous quality improvement activities. Future Plans: In addition to traditional evaluation metrics of the curriculum the school will implement a career outcomes project to track students’ career and employment placements. The results of the evaluation and assessment activities will be shared in future manuscripts.


Pharmacy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Sarah Scoular ◽  
Ashley Huntsberry ◽  
Toral Patel ◽  
Sara Wettergreen ◽  
Jason M. Brunner

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacy education has shifted from in-person teaching and assessments to the virtual environment. Many education programs had previously adopted objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) to assess communication abilities in-person with standardized patients (SPs). However, comparative student outcome data between virtual and in-person methods as well as guidance on how to conduct communication-based OSCEs in the virtual environment is lacking. The University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS) describes its methods of conducting two types of communication-based OSCEs (patient counseling and gathering a medical history). Student performance data from the two virtual OSCEs in 2020 was compared to results from two 2019 in-person OSCEs using Mann Whitney U Tests. The 2020 cohort scored significantly higher than the 2019 cohort in all variables (i.e., using effective verbal and non-verbal communication, using patient friendly education, organizing the encounter, demonstrating empathy, establishing trust, professionalism) and in overall score. However, the effect size for these findings indicate the differences between performances are generally small and more likely due to changes in grading patterns due to the pandemic.


2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 575-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Soltis ◽  
Schwanda K. Flowers

A new set of standards, ACPE Standards 2007, adopted by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), required all pharmacy programs to include introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) to represent 5% of the curriculum and advance pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) to represent 25% of the curriculum. This required many pharmacy programs to revise their curriculum to meet these requirements. The challenge of satisfying the increased accreditation requirements along with the increased number of new pharmacy programs in the United States has resulted in increased competition for experiential sites. Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy utilized innovative immunization services to help meet the ACPE Standards 2007. Drake utilized P2 and P3 students who were trained to give immunizations in an IPPE patient care elective in order to help experiential sites in their immunization efforts. Senior pharmacy students at UAMS were involved in expanding APPE opportunities by developing immunization clinics and providing immunizations at their experiential sites. Both pharmacy programs were successful in expanding experiential opportunities by focusing on immunizations. Students, preceptors, and patients all benefit from utilizing student pharmacist at experiential sites to provide patient care services.


2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 338-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Kennerly ◽  
Robert J. Weber

The Director's Forum series is designed to guide pharmacy leaders in establishing patient-centered services in hospitals and health systems. This article focuses on pharmacy academia's (“Academy”) role in transforming an organization's pharmacy practice model. Pharmacy students can assume an integrated and accountable role in the practice model by having defined responsibilities for patient care. This role will produce students who are best trained to meet the challenges of pharmacy practice and health care reform. To make the students successful in this role, the pharmacy director must have a specific plan for integrating pharmacy students into the model and establishing relationships with Academy leadership, most importantly with the dean of the school or college of pharmacy. If successfully executed, the relationship between the Academy and the pharmacy department will enhance the mission of developing patient-centered pharmacy services.


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