A Management Skills Course for Pharmacy Students

Abstract

Objective. This paper describes the planning and implementation of a 3-credit pharmacy management skills course taught to third-year Doctor of Pharmacy students at Shenandoah University. The purpose of this course was to help pharmacy students to develop and improve their management skills. Design. The curriculum for the course was based on a 5-step social learning theory model that included self-awareness, skill learning, skill analysis, skill practice, and skill application. A diverse number of methods were used to assess the students' managerial skills, including administration of a standardized test at the beginning and end of the class. Students were assessed on learning and demonstration of the requisite managerial skills deemed to be critical to their future success as managers. Assessment. Based on both the instructor's assessment of student performance and on student feedback concerning the worthiness of the course, students appeared to develop new and improve existing management skills. Conclusions. A substantial body of research supports the correlation between managerial skills and both career and personal effectiveness. Based on instructor assessment and student feedback, the course appears to have succeeded in at least making students cognizant of the need for management skills and how they can develop and improve their skills.Keywords: management, curriculum, doctor of pharmacy INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of this paper is to describe the planning and implementation of a 3-credit pharmacy management skills course taught to third year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students at Shenandoah University. Management skills refer to general and specific behaviors that contribute to managerial effectiveness. [1][2][3][4][5] Professional Pharmacy Management is a 3-credit hour course taught to pharmacy students in their third professional year. The same instructor has taught the course since its inception in the fall of 1998. The first several years of the course where taught from an organizational behavior/human resource management perspective. Emphasis was placed on the functions of management and how they relate to pharmacy. Topics of discussion included managerial decision-making, motivating and rewarding employees, team building, performance appraisals, and basic leadership issues. While these topics are important, it is difficult to cover the topics in sufficient detail in approximately 42 contact hours (one semester). Rather, a whole semester could be spent on each topic. Thus, the instructor believed that pharmacy students were being taught about the many aspects of management, but were not exposed to and provided with sufficient guidance and practice time to develop their management skills. The basic question asked was, "How can this course increase the probability that students will develop into good managers?" After examining the management literature, it was believed that helping to develop students' management skills was the best answer to the above question. The rationale for this and the model used fo...

Pharmacy students' perceived professionalism and application of bioethical principles: Implications for teaching pharmacy ethics for patient-centred pharmacy practice

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Report of the 2010-2011 Academic Affairs Standing Committee

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