Evaluation of Pharmacist-Managed Education of Medical Residents

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of presentations provided by pharmacists/pharmacy students in increasing medical residents' knowledge of treatment options and guidelines of various disease states. A secondary objective was to evaluate medical residents' satisfaction and perception of increased knowledge. Methods A series of presentations were conducted by pharmacist/pharmacy students in an internal medicine resident clinic. Topics covered included dyslipidemia, hypertension (HTN), and asthma. Prior to each presentation, medical residents completed a pretest. One to 3 weeks after the presentations, residents were asked to complete a post-test identical to the pretests. At the conclusion of the series, medical residents responded to a follow-up survey that assessed the residents' perception of the usefulness of the presentations and interest in future presentations. Results Twenty medical residents attended the dyslipidemia presentations and completed a pretest with 18 of these residents completing a post-test. The overall increase in median score was 7%. Twelve residents attended the HTN presentations and completed a pretest with 11 of these residents completing a post-test. The overall increase in median score was 17%. Thirteen residents attended the asthma presentations with 10 of these residents completing a post-test. The overall increase in median score was 3%. Seventeen residents completed the follow-up survey with “agree” being the most common response to all items indicating satisfaction and perception of increased knowledge. Conclusion There was an overall improvement in pharmacotherapy knowledge of medical residents as anticipated. Residents were satisfied with the presentations and perceived an increase in their pharmacotherapy knowledge.