BackgroundThe pharmacy profession has shifted towards patient-centred care. To meet the new challenges it is necessary to provide students with clinical competencies. A quasi-experimental single-blinded teaching and learning study was carried out using a parallel-group design to evaluate systematically the benefits of clinical teaching in pharmacy education in Germany.MethodsA clinical pharmacy course on a psychiatric ward was developed and implemented for small student groups. The learning aims included: the improvement of patient and interdisciplinary communication skills and the identification and management of pharmaceutical care issues. The control group participated only in the preparation lecture, while the intervention group took part in the complete course. The effects were assessed by an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and a student satisfaction survey.ResultsThe intervention group achieved significantly better overall results on the OSCE assessment (46.20 ± 10.01 vs. 26.58 ± 12.91 of a maximum of 90 points; p < 0.0001).The practical tasks had the greatest effect, as reflected in the outcomes of tasks 1–5 (34.94 ± 9.60 vs. 18.63 ± 10.24 of a maximum of 60 points; p < 0.0001). Students’ performance on the theoretical tasks (tasks 6–10) was improved but unsatisfying in both groups considering the maximum score (11.50 ± 4.75 vs. 7.50 ± 4.00 of a maximum of 30 points; p < 0.0001). Of the students, 93% rated the course as practice-orientated, and 90% felt better prepared for patient contact. Many students suggested a permanent implementation and an extension of the course.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the developed ward-based course provided learning benefits for clinical skills. Students’ perception of the course was positive. Implementation into the regular clinical pharmacy curriculum is therefore advisable.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-017-1092-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
BackgroundThe pharmacy profession is changing towards patient-centred care. To meet the new challenges but also to drive the profession forward it is necessary to provide students with clinical competencies. Clinical courses with teacher practitioners are part of the pharmacy curriculum in countries like the UK or USA and are increasingly being established within Europe.1 PurposeTo systematically evaluate the benefits of clinical teaching in our country: a quasi-randomised teaching and learning study.Material and methodsA clinical teaching course on a psychiatric ward was created for small student groups. Learning aims included: communication, drug histories, drug-related problems and counselling. The control group only participated in the theoretical part while the intervention group took part in the complete course. The effects were assessed by an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and a student questionnaire.ResultsThe intervention group achieved a significantly better overall result in the OSCE assessment (46.4 ± 9.5 vs. 28.2 ± 9.0 of 90 points; p < 0.001) with the most positive effect in communications skills (27.4 ± 5.4 vs. 16.3 ± 6.0 of 40 points; p < 0.001). The performance in the theoretical tasks was improved but unsatisfactory in both groups considering the maximum score (12.1 ± 4.1 vs. 8.1 ± 3.2 of 30 points; p < 0.001). 93% of the students rated the course as practice-orientated and 90% felt better prepared for patient contact. Many students suggested an extension of the course in the free text field of the questionnaire.ConclusionThe results suggest significant learning benefits from the ward-based course created. The overall satisfaction was high. Inclusion in the pharmacy curriculum should be considered. Further studies are required to optimise course structure.ReferenceRamos RG. Eur J Hosp Pharm 2014;21:A119This work was supported by Bayerische Akademie für Klinische Pharmazie/Dr. August und Dr. Anni Lesmüller-Stiftung, Munich, Germany.The authors are grateful for the expert advice of Dr. Freidank, Fulda Hospital, Germany and PD Dr. Frobenius, MME, Erlangen University Hospital, Germany.No conflict of interest.
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