A Co-Curricular Activity to Introduce Pharmacy Students to the Concepts of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Abstract

To develop, implement and evaluate a 'Shark Tank' style co-curricular activity focusing on creating a new clinical pharmacy service, including assessing student performance and determining the effect of the activity on students' perceptions of innovation as it applies to their own future practice and pharmacy practice in general. Methods. Second year pharmacy students participated in an optional 'Shark Tank' style co-curricular activity and worked in teams to develop a clinical service. A team of faculty graded students according to a CAPE-mapped rubric to determine the winning team. A pre-and post-survey was administered to gather information about changes in perceptions of innovation and entrepreneurship. Results. Student groups received higher scores on their ability to present the background and need for their clinical service, and lower scores in areas such as tracking outcomes and predicting challenges. After completing the activity, 96.7% of responding students agreed that the activity gave them a better understanding of pharmacists' roles in establishing new clinical services and 86.7% stated they intend to actively seek out new clinical pharmacy service opportunities in their future career. Conclusion. Survey results demonstrate that students understand the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in pharmacy practice, and almost all students felt that the activity gave them an even better understanding of the pharmacist's role in clinical service development. This activity can serve as a blueprint for schools of pharmacy looking to incorporate creative and fun methods of exposing students to innovation and entrepreneurship activities.

An Innovation Sprint to Promote Problem-solving and Interprofessional Skills Among Pharmacy and Public Health Students

“…Students may be exposed to these concepts through student professional organizations, 17,18 elective courses, 19 or co-curricular activities. 20 Mogul et al reported on a co-curricular activity, modeled after the popular television series SharkTank. 20 Students (n=38) were assigned teams and tasked with developing a solution (or pitch) to a pharmacy services related problem.…”

“…20 Mogul et al reported on a co-curricular activity, modeled after the popular television series SharkTank. 20 Students (n=38) were assigned teams and tasked with developing a solution (or pitch) to a pharmacy services related problem. Faculty evaluated students using a standardized rubric and students completed a pre-and post-program survey.…”

Using the Business Model Canvas to Guide Doctor of Pharmacy Students in Building Business Plans

“…2 There are numerous strategies for achieving competencies in business management and entrepreneurship. These competences can be acquired through required didactic courses, [3][4][5][6][7][8] electives, [9][10][11] co-curricular activities, 12 workshops, 13 experiential rotations, 14 or a combination of strategies. Courses can focus on initiatives in ambulatory care, 9 mass merchandise pharmacy, 3 community pharmacy, 6,10,15,16 clinical pharmacy, 5,7 or students can have the freedom to choose from an array of business ideas.…”

An entrepreneurial activity implementation and assessment among pharmacy students amid the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown

“…Nonetheless, not all pharmacy schools are equipped with the requisite resources, nor is it their priority to provide such intensive learning opportunities. Although there are numerous reports emphasising the significance of entrepreneurial development in pharmacy students (Hermansen-Kobulnicky & Moss, 2004;Huston, 2018;Mattingly et al, 2019a), there are very few studies related to implementation and assessment of IE activities (Laverty et al, 2015;Mogul et al, 2020).…”

“…For example, Laverty and colleagues offered a workshop that teaches undergraduate pharmacy students about entrepreneurship and evaluated the outcomes using the Shark Tank model (Laverty et al, 2015). Mogul and colleagues implemented and evaluated an innovative clinical service model to solve a pharmacy related issue using the Shark Tank approach (Mogul et al, 2020). However, during the recent COVID-19 pandemic crisis, exploring novel platforms of instilling entrepreneurship skills were the need of the hour.…”