Outcomes of Individualized Formative Assessments in a Pharmacy Skills Laboratory

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of an individualized teaching method in a pharmacy skills laboratory. Design: All third-year students enrolled in an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited doctor of pharmacy program (n5150) received an individual formative assessment from clinical pharmacists on communication skills and clinical competency after the students counseled standardized mock glaucoma patients during a laboratory focused on alternative dosing formulations. Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) scores for this station from the 2012 and 2013 classes were compared before and after the intervention. Assessment: Ophthalmic OSCE station scores were higher after the individual formative feedback intervention. Students in 2013 had a mean score of 83.2 6 8.3% compared to a mean of 74.3 6 12.9% in 2012 for this OSCE station. The percentage of students receiving an "A" on the OSCE station increased from 8.1% to 31.3% after the intervention. Conclusion: Individualized formative teaching methods benefited students in both their communication skills and clinical assessment. Future research should focus on wider implementation and overcoming obstacles, such as increased facilitator needs.

A simulação no ensino de competências para a realização de serviços farmacêuticos de âmbito clínico

“…Dentre os estudos recuperados, 4 (22,2%) não obtiveram taxas de participação maiores que 75% a partir da população inicial 28,31,32,34 ; 3 (16,7%) tiveram menos do que 50 participantes 22,30,31 ; 6 (33,3%) tiveram entre 50 e 100 participantes 21,[24][25][26]33,34 ; 9 (50,0%) tiveram mais de 100 participantes 20,23,[27][28][29]32,[35][36][37] ; 6 (33,3%) não utilizaram testes estatísticos 21-23,29,-31 1 (5,6%) relatou dados sobre a confiabilidade interna 26 ; 2 (11,2%) utilizaram o cegamento nos delineamentos dos estudos 20,37 ; e 1 (5,6%) utilizou métodos validados 32 . 15 , as habilidades de comunicação são essenciais para o desenvolvimento do cuidado centrado no paciente e para o ambiente de cuidado em saúde junto a outros profissionais de saúde.…”

A Study to Explore Learning Style Preferences of Pharmacy Students With Regard to Pharmaceutical Calculations

“…A common theme identified how this particular learning style "recognises areas of weakness" due to individualised feedback. Gums [22] claimed this leads to higher test scores. More than half of the students who left a positive comment, stated formative assessments were "similar to real exams" and how these questions were best used for "practice" purposes.…”

“…Work shop was selected as first option, followed by formative assessments and workbooks and lectures and videos came last. (11) Can't ask questions (22) Hard to cover new concept alone (7) Pressure (9) Not good as a learning style (2) Independent learner (5) Loss of concentration (6) Lack of detail (4) Can't ask questions (10) A single method shown (2) No interaction (17) No knowledge application (4) No attempts 27…”

“…They cover a range of topics of varying difficulty [13,21]. These mini-tests were claimed to improve skills and performance [22] as they assess students' knowledge, retention and the ability to apply concepts [3,20]. After having completed the exercises, rapid, detailed feedback is received, allowing learning adjustments to be made and also the opportunity of repeated practice [23,24].…”

“…Feedback delivered included solutions with detailed working, and an opportunity to seek one to one support [23,24]. Gums [22] claimed higher test scores were noted due to this form of individualised feedback, whitensz and Frosch [21] demonstrated that students who take these regular quizzes and assessments experience less stress than they did in the past, when taking summative examinations.…”