Abstract
For delivering high quality pharmaceutical care pharmacy students need to develop the competences for patient centered communication. The aim of the article is to describe how a curriculum on patient centered communication can be designed for a pharmacy program. General educational principles for curriculum design are based on the theories of constructive alignment, self-directed learning and the self-determination theory. Other principles are paying systematic and explicit attention to skills development, learning skills in the context of the pharmacy practice and using a well-balanced system for the assessment of students’ performance. Effective educational methods for teaching communication skills are small group training sessions preferably with (simulation) patients, preceded by lectures or e-learning modules. For (formative or summative) assessment different methods can be used. The Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) is preferred for summative assessment of communication competence. The principles and educational methods are illustrated with examples from the curriculum of the master Pharmacy program of Utrecht University (The Netherlands). The topics ‘pharmaceutical consultations on prescription medicine,’ ‘pharmaceutical consultations on self-care medication’ and ‘clinical medication reviews’ are described in detail. Finally, lessons learned are shared.
Highlights
In many countries, the primary focus of the pharmacist shifted from ‘product’ to ‘patients’ in the last twenty to thirty years [1]
In the Strategic Plan of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) of 2019 this shift is supported by the following strategic outcome: ‘support and empower pharmacists to provide high quality person-centered pharmaceutical care to improve health outcomes for individuals and populations alike’ [3]
Examples from our own master curriculum illustrate h translated these principles into practice. These examples are meant as a source this article, we describe a curriculum on patient centered communication
Summary
Open interview on patient’s personal situation, their experience with diseases and medication, preferences, questions and problems. Patient explains how they use their medication on an average day (giving insight in self-management, practical problems and medication adherence). MI in general provides tools to take on the role of a health coach for patients, providing patient centered care [67,68]. Through all these activities during their master, students have grown in expertise and professionalism. Definition and structure of a Clinical Medication Review (grey: consultations with a patient)
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