Descriptive Analysis of Pharmacy Students’ Impressions on Virtual Interactive Case Software

Abstract

Objective. To assess students' impressions on whether Virtual Interactive Cases (VIC) contribute to their learning experience. Methods. Ten 4th year pharmacy students each independently completed the same four VIC cases followed by a semi-structured interview conducted by VIC project team members. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes using qualitative research methods.Results. All participating students completed all of the cases. Overall, students' feedback on VIC was positive. Five main themes emerged from the transcripts: 1) VIC facilitated their skills in information gathering; 2) they learned from the built-in, real-time, formative feedback; 3) they had a fun and positive learning experience; 4) VIC cases were realistic; and 5) VIC system was user- PAP Manuscript A J P EA c c e p t e d D r a f t friendly. Students also recommended that VIC be incorporated into classroom learning. Some students required additional explanation on the concept of time and costs associated with each action they selected, and the associated performance score. Conclusion.Pharmacy students' positive experiences with VIC cases support its use to bridge classroom learning with clinical practice.

Implementation of Virtual Interactive Cases for Pharmacy Education: A Single-Center Experience

“…Although the 13 students represented approximately 10% (13/136) of all eligible students who were invited to participate, it was determined that data saturation occurred at the eighth participant, as no new themes were identified in subsequent interviews during data analysis. Themes derived from these interviews revealed some similarities to the original qualitative study 15 as they also found VIC software easy to navigate. Additional themes included: VIC enhances students' ability to identify relevant patient information; VIC accurately simulated hospital pharmacy practice, thereby helping to prepare students for their rotations; and students recommended an expanded role of VIC in the curriculum.…”

Computer-Based Simulators in Pharmacy Practice Education: A Systematic Narrative Review

“…Some studies focused on dispensing and communication skills development [ 12 , 31 , 41 , 42 , 43 ], while others focused on the assessment of the knowledge, metacognition support, and promoting active learning, student confidence and independent studying [ 4 , 11 , 13 , 15 , 16 , 28 , 33 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 40 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ]. Some literature focused more on presenting the CBS platform and students’ perceptions of it [ 34 , 38 , 39 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ]. A few studies assessed the use of CBS platforms against other training methods [ 16 , 32 , 40 , 51 , 61 , 63 , 66 , 67 ].…”

Virtual reality environment in pharmacy education: A cyclical study on instructional design principles

“…Suh and Prophet (2018) reviewed more than 50 studies and reported that they offered realistic virtual reality experiences. Also, the literature has demonstrated that virtual environments can contribute to the transfer of learning (Makransky & Petersen, 2021), improved problem solving, communication, collaboration, application of knowledge, and methodological knowledge skills, and were considered a suitable environment for knowledge acquisition (Bravo et al, 2019) and practice (Gustafsson et al, 2017). Thus, it could be concluded that the instructional design principles of the VRPE would contribute to the aforementioned processes and could be used in various pharmacy education applications.…”

“…Experiential learning is considered crucial in pharmacy education, with the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) even having emphasized the acquisition of clinical skills via experiential learning (ACPE, 2015). In pharmacy education, students develop their clinical reasoning skills through practice (Bravo et al, 2019). Furthermore, they are expected to acquire competent critical‐thinking, problem‐solving, and communication skills, therapeutic knowledge, and also skills in patient management (D'Souza et al, 2015).…”

“…To overcome this limitation, virtual reality applications that provide a safe, repetitive, and realistic virtual experience within a clinical setting can be employed. Several studies in the international literature have tested the effectiveness of virtual reality environments in pharmacy education (Aura et al, 2015; Bravo et al, 2019; D'Souza et al, 2015). However, it is clear that certain principles should be considered in the design of appropriate virtual environments in order to achieve an effective educational outcome.…”