Experiential learning in community pharmacy: Online and remote teaching experience in Malaysian higher education

Abstract

Experiential learning provides opportunities for students to learn beyond the classroom setting. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students were unable to complete their attachment modules in community pharmacy settings, thus a four week community pharmacy course was conducted via remote learning. Students were required to have a maximum of two hours of virtual discussion and consultation sessions with a faculty member (with community pharmacy background/experience) twice a week. In each week, students were required to complete all tasks given based on the activities proposed in the community pharmacy logbook. MyDispense (an online pharmacy simulation) and Access Pharmacy (McGraw-Hill) were utilised by students to practice their dispensing skills and familiarisation with non-prescription medications, respectively. Case discussions on responding to minor ailments were also touched on during the online sessions. Students were assessed via logbook, preceptor assessment and an online objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).

Integration of a Virtual Dispensing Simulator “MyDispense” in an Experiential Education Program to Prepare Students for Community Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience

“…Additionally, MyDispense exercises were introduced to students in all professional years to aid in learning activities of various subjects such as practicing dispensing in skills labs throughout the curriculum, improving understanding of pharmacy law, and practicing law concepts, counseling, and prescription review process within a pain management course. More recently, both within our own institution and throughout the world, MyDispense has been used to supplement experiential learning when remote/online teaching was required during the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating another potential use for MyDispense [28,29].…”

Online aviation learning experience during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Hong Kong and Mainland China

“…The practice of logbooks was used to record the flight planning, flight performance and system operation (eg, Kavelaars et al., 2009). During the pandemic, this low‐technical strategy is useful in various disciplines to measure students' learning experience in mobile learning platforms (Thiagraj & Abdul Karim, 2020), industrial work experience (Olojakpoke & Ojo, 2020) and pharmacy simulation (Rahman et al., 2020). An online blended mode combined the advantages of synchronous and asynchronous settings that sustained students in online aviation learning to explore aviation careers, enhance their aeronautical knowledge and solve related problems (Cox, 2010).…”

Use of the Virtual Simulation Tool ‘MyDispense’ By Pharmacy Programs in the United States

“…fourth and fifth year) in their experiential practices/clerkships. 29,30 The use of MyDispense has continued to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that attributes such as being free, web-based, customizable, and available to students 24/7 are facilitators to utilization. 21,[29][30][31] The number of pharmacy schools that have adopted the MyDispense program have been continuously increasing since 2014.…”

“…29,30 The use of MyDispense has continued to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that attributes such as being free, web-based, customizable, and available to students 24/7 are facilitators to utilization. 21,[29][30][31] The number of pharmacy schools that have adopted the MyDispense program have been continuously increasing since 2014. 32 As of August 2020, more than one-third (n=50/141, 35%) of pharmacy schools across the US have gained administrative access to the program.…”