Association Between Prerequisites and Academic Success at a Canadian University’s Pharmacy Program

Abstract

Objective. To identify pharmacy prerequisites associated with academic success in the current Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (BSP) program and anticipated success in the planned Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program at the University of Saskatchewan. Methods. Statistical analysis was conducted on retrospective data of the grades of 1,236 pharmacy students admitted from 2002 to 2015. BSP success was calculated using a weighted average of all required courses within the BSP program. Anticipated success in the PharmD program was calculated from the BSP grades after excluding PharmD prerequisites currently part of the BSP. Models of BSP and PharmD prerequisites and demographic variables associated with pharmacy program success were constructed using stepwise and forced linear regression. Results. For the current BSP program, modelling explained more than half of academic success in year 1. Explicable variance declined each year, explaining less than 20% in year 4. After removing PharmD prerequisites from the program, the BSP prerequisites associated with success were the same as the first model but explained less of the variance in years 1 and 2. Using both BSP and the new PharmD prerequisites explained nearly three-quarters of the variance in year 1 for the remaining pharmacy courses. Explicable variance increased slightly in year 2, declined to approximately two-thirds in year 3 and just over one-half in year 4. Conclusion. Consistency of instructor and course content, along with instructional design and higher-level learning, may explain these stronger associations for the PharmD prerequisites.