Investigation of Improvement Items Based on Students' Perspectives on Practical Training for Raising Pharmaceutical Problem-solving Capability at Pharmacies

Abstract

Experience-based clinical training has been introduced in long-term practical training at pharmacies in Japan. Satisfaction and motivation of pharmacy students differs among pharmacies; however, the underlying causes of the differences are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate items for improvement for long-term practical training for raising pharmaceutical problem-solving capability at pharmacies based on students' perspectives. We performed a questionnaire survey to evaluate student satisfaction in clinical education and learning environments. The results were analyzed using customer satisfaction (CS) analysis. After long-term practical training at pharmacies, questionnaires were distributed to 126 pharmacy students at Fukuyama University between November 2021 and March 2022. Ninety-eight students responded. "The practice hours per prescription or pharmacotherapy screening and intervention (improvement factor: 14.954)", "the discussion hours for optimization of prescribing and rational medication use, or patient education with pharmacist (9.493)", and "the self-learning place (3.490)" were identified as items requiring improvement. Our findings suggest that the university should work together with pharmacies to improve the learning strategy and environments to increase direct and continuous interaction with pharmacists at pharmacies. Such interventions may result in improvement of students' satisfaction and a wide variety of practical pharmacy skills.