Increasing student engagement using an Amazing Race–style competition

Background: Game-based learning is a successful strategy for teaching various concepts to students, from general orientations to more in-depth material. Pharmacy students in a first-year lab course were introduced to library and drug information resources through a lecture-style class in their first week of school, which was ineffective in terms of engagement. To combat this issue, the pharmacy liaison librarian advocated for moving this class session later in the semester and proposed a game-based activity to replace the lecture.Case Presentation: “The Amazing Race: Drug Information Edition” was inspired by a well-known TV competition that involves completing several stages (called “legs”) of challenges to finish the race. The librarian developed questions designed to make students use various parts of the library website as well as two drug information databases. Students competed in teams, and the first three teams to complete the race were awarded small prizes. The race was first implemented in 2018, and modifications were made to the 2019 iteration based on student feedback.Conclusions: Despite several challenges, the race was well received by both the students and the course instructors and increased engagement with introductory library and drug information material. The activity has enhanced the librarian’s relationship and collaboration with the course faculty and made a positive impression on the students.

Adverse drug reactions in drug information databases: does presentation affect interpretation?

Objective: Formatting of adverse drug reaction (ADR) information differs among drug information (DI) resources and may impact clinical decision-making. The objective of this study was to determine whether ADR formatting impacts adverse event interpretation by pharmacy practitioners and students.Methods: Participants were randomized to receive ADR information in a comparative quantitative (CQUANT), noncomparative quantitative (NQUANT), or noncomparative qualitative (NQUAL) format to interpret 3 clinical vignettes. Vignettes involved patients presenting with adverse events that varied in the extent to which they were associated with a medication. The primary outcome was interpretation of the likelihood of medication-induced adverse events on a 10-point Likert scale. Lower scoring on likelihood (i.e., ADR deemed unlikely) reflected more appropriate interpretation. Linear regression was performed to analyze the effects of ADR information format on the primary outcome.Results: A total of 108 participants completed the study (39 students and 69 pharmacists). Overall, the CQUANT group had the lowest average likelihood compared to NQUAL (4.0 versus 5.4; p<0.01) and NQUANT (4.0 versus 4.9; p=0.016) groups. There was no difference between NQUAL and NQUANT groups (5.4 versus 4.9; p=0.14). In the final model, at least 2 years of postgraduate training (–1.1; 95% CI: –1.8 to –0.3; p<0.01) and CQUANT formatting (–1.3; 95% CI: –0.9 to –1.7; p<0.01) were associated with reduced likelihood.Conclusions: Formatting impacts pharmacists’ and pharmacy students’ interpretation of ADR information. CQUANT formatting and at least two years of postgraduate training improved interpretation of adverse events.