Implementation and assessment of a novel drug interaction tool (TLC-act) in an entry-to-practice doctor of pharmacy program

Abstract

Background and purposeDrug-drug interaction (DDI) assessment is an important role that pharmacists have in practice. Students often struggle with this complex clinical reasoning skill. TLC-Act is a tool that was created to mirror the steps and clinical checkpoints that pharmacists complete when assessing DDIs. Through integration of TLC-Act in the pharmacy curriculum, students will be better prepared for assessing and evaluating DDIs when in practice. Educational activity and settingFor the 2021–2022 academic year, an asynchronous educational activity to teach students how to use TLC-Act was created and implemented. Five videos that encompassed multiple facets of TLC-Act including an introduction to the tool and how to use it, an example application of the tool to a patient case, and the clinical utility of using TLC-Act in the hospital and community settings. Students were instructed to view all five videos and then complete a patient case that focused on the DDI between ciprofloxacin and metformin. FindingsA pre- and post-activity survey was disseminated to 640 students across the first three years of the program to gather students' perspectives on the educational activity. Overall, survey response rates were 32% for the pre- and 23% for the post-activity surveys. SummaryThe TLC-Act educational activity improved students' skills with managing DDIs.