Examining Social Identities of Patient Diversity Through Cases Presented in a Therapeutics Course Series

Abstract

The inclusion of social identities, such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, spirituality, nationality, and socioeconomic status, within cases in didactic pharmacy education is an issue of significant debate. In considering what and how much to include of these identities into didactic cases, the first step could be to measure the current inclusion. The purpose of this study was to quantify the presence of these social identities in cases presented to student pharmacists in a three-semester course series. Methods. This was a review of 144 cases presented in a three-semester pharmacotherapeutics course series. The primary objective was to quantify the inclusion of each social identity. The secondary objective assessed if the identities were needed to answer specific questions related to each case. Cases were reviewed by two independent study researchers, with a third impartial reviewer settling disagreements. Results. Explicitly stating these identities was infrequent among the cases. Race was explicitly stated in 14.6% of cases (n=21). Gender identity was explicitly named in 2 cases (1.4%), whereas nearly all cases implied gender through pronouns. Gender was necessary to answer case questions in approximately 20% of the cases (n=27). Socioeconomic status, ability, sexual orientation, and nationality were infrequently named among all cases, 6.3%, 4.9%, 1.4%, and 1.4%, respectively. Conclusion. This study found that these social identities were rarely explicitly stated in cases. In determining the next steps for integrating social identities, pharmacy education must first take stock of its current use of these identities.