Teaching Student Pharmacists to Apply Drug Literature to Patient Cases

Abstract

Objective. To implement a series of activities designed to build drug literature evaluation skills and assess their impact on student pharmacists' ability to apply study results to patient cases. Design. Coursework was integrated across two didactic and pharmacy practice laboratory (PPL) courses. Team and individual journal clubs were used in traditional and case-based approaches during PPL courses to reinforce skills introduced in didactic courses. Student performance and perceptions were assessed during orientation for the third professional (P3) year and after the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) at the end of the P3 year in identical drug literature evaluation assessments and pre- and post-intervention surveys of students. Assessment. Mean scores on team and individual journal club sessions were 91.8%±7.3% and 88.0%±8.2%. Of 64 students who completed both P3 assessments, 29 (45.3%) earned a passing score on the drug literature evaluation assessment at orientation compared to 57 (89.1%) after the OSCE. Conclusion. Student performance and confidence improved on objective assessments following a series of both team and individual, and traditional and case-based journal clubs.