Current environment of service learning within the school of pharmacy

Abstract

Service learning (SL) is an alternative to the traditional teaching model and offers valuable benefits to pharmacy students, including the opportunity to expand their community engagement and develop as active citizens. Despite numerous advantages, the current role of SL within our institution is largely unknown. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the current presence of SL among faculty and preceptors within our pharmacy school. The secondary objectives were to identify factors that may impact faculty offering SL and to identify needs or barriers of faculty members and preceptors so that those needs may be met to promote more SL. A survey was conducted of faculty and preceptors to assess the current environment of SL within our pharmacy curriculum. Statistical analysis was utilized to investigate predictive factors for faculty and preceptor interest in SL and to identify prominent barriers to initiating SL opportunities for students. A total of 193 participants completed the survey. Among them, 79 (42%) participants currently offer SL opportunities to their students. Furthermore, many participants indicated positive attitudes towards SL overall, including the beliefs that SL can positively impact the health of a patient (85%), can teach students valuable skills (90%), and can provide additional benefit beyond those gained from extracurricular activities (61%). Time (71%) was the largest barrier to implementations of SL. The survey results were used as a basis for developing resources to facilitate curricular change and further promote SL efforts at the school.