Improving the Remediation Process for Skills-based Laboratory Courses in the Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum

Abstract

When students fail to meet minimum competence standards on summative pharmacy skills-based assessments, remediation can beused toensure studentreadiness for progression.Skills-based remediation ischallenging as a high volume of resources is required to develop an action plan that addresses the heterogeneity in student needs and to create and execute another assessment equivalent to the initial assessment. Although many Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programs face these same challenges, there is no consensus on how to best address them. Recently, faculty from six PharmD programs convened to share ideas and approaches to overcoming these challenges. This commentary aims to define remediation as it pertains to summative skills-based assessments, share our consensus views regarding remediation best practices, and highlight areas where there is more work to be done. Our intent is to advance the ongoing conversation and empower institutions to develop their own effective and impactful skills-based remediation policies, procedures, and activities.

Associating Student Performance in Pharmacy Practice Didactic and Skills-Based Courses With Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences

“…Other factors to explore with a student include their study methods and learning needs, and potential assessment accommodations. 16,17 This evaluation also showed that students performing consistently in the BC/C range may perform reasonably well on APPEs, which may be due to a variable not measured, or to the complexity of predicting performance. We did not assess student performance in pharmaceutical sciences or social and administrative sciences courses, because our project focused on pharmacy practice courses.…”

Teaching and Assessing Pharmacy Students on Sterile Compounding Accuracy Checks

“…10,11 The remediation process could be improved by including formalized student self-reflection, developing a formal learning plan, and increasing opportunities to practice before the skill is reassessed. 12 Despite these limitations, this early report details methods for teaching accuracy checks to pharmacy students. The importance of these checks when dispensing CSP cannot be underestimated.…”

Addressing Challenges in Skills-based Education Through Innovation and Collaboration

“…23 Chen and colleagues discuss skills-based remediation best practices for summative performance-based assessments and advocate for further discussion around this topic in the Academy. 24 Additionally, two articles discuss changes in skills-based education with the evolution of pharmacy practice. Cook and colleagues discuss the importance of incorporating electronic health records into the curriculum to prepare students for pharmacy practice in an increasingly technological world.…”