A Novel Structured Format for Engaging Pharmacy Students in Bioethics Discussions

Abstract

Objective: To describe an active, structured ethics/professionalism discussion format developed for an elective course titled Ethics and Professionalism in Pharmacy. Design: The format uses the acronym ETHICS (Evaluate, Teach, Hear, Interview, Concede, Selfreflect). Before class, students evaluated (Evaluate) literature pertaining to ethics/professionalism topics. Class consisted of faculty-led ethics/professionalism lecture (Teach), student-driven, case discussion, and online self-reflection. Guided by Hear, Interview, and Concede, groups addressed cases from stakeholder perspectives (patient, pharmacist, etc.) considering ethical rules and principles. At the end of class, students answered self-reflection questions. Precourse and postcourse surveys evaluated the impact on students' perceptions of ethical and professional tenets. Assessment: The format allowed students to actively engage in ethics/professionalism discussions, transforming class into an interactive, structured, student-centered session with self-reflection. Conclusion: The format allowed application of concepts to controversial situations. Although the format was created for a pharmacy elective, it is adaptable to any teaching situation.

The Contribution of the Humanities and Social Sciences to Pharmacy Education: Literature Review and Perspectives

“…Two American studies simultaneously address ethics and professionalism. The 2014 study (see ( Appendix A )), which focuses on pharmacy students as well as professionals, highlights the importance of bioethics and professionalism in the pharmaceutical curriculum [ 33 ]. It is also mentioned that these two notions have been present in national recommendations since 2004.…”

“…[ 29 ] 2013 Empirical study Germany Cultural competences and professionalism Horton ER, et al A Novel Structured Format for Engaging Pharmacy Students in Bioethics Discussions. [ 33 ] 2014 Empirical study USA Ethic and professionalism Smith MG, et al Early Introduction to Professional and Ethical Dilemmas in a Pharmaceutical Care Laboratory Course. [ 34 ] 2015 Empirical study USA Ethic and professionalism Mesquita AR, et al Developing communication skills in pharmacy: a systematic review of the use of simulated patient methods.…”

The Importance of Teaching Ethics in Pharmacy Education

“…7 These sites have information on ethical decision-making that is not specific to pharmacy, but they can provide for a foundational understanding of ethics which can supplement the limited number of available publications on ethics instruction more specific to pharmacy education. [9][10][11][12][13] Of the pharmacy-specific ethics instruction articles, two involved research involving elective courses, one evaluating the use of debates to deliver ethics content to undergraduate pharmacy students in the United Kingdom, 9 and the other evaluating the use of facilitated discussion groups to deliver ethical content. 10 A third article described a structured format for teaching ethics and professionalism, 11 and a fourth discussed ethical and legal issues pertaining to A J P E A c c e p t e d D r a f t 2 social media.…”

“…[9][10][11][12][13] Of the pharmacy-specific ethics instruction articles, two involved research involving elective courses, one evaluating the use of debates to deliver ethics content to undergraduate pharmacy students in the United Kingdom, 9 and the other evaluating the use of facilitated discussion groups to deliver ethical content. 10 A third article described a structured format for teaching ethics and professionalism, 11 and a fourth discussed ethical and legal issues pertaining to A J P E A c c e p t e d D r a f t 2 social media. 12 Stratton discussed evidence from other health professions demonstrating that multiple exposures to ethics is preferred over a single course.…”

Status of Pharmacy Ethics Education in Australia and New Zealand

“…15 This is supported in the pharmacy literature, with some reported methods of integrating pharmacy ethics into the curricula identified as: debate, team-based approaches, use of legal cases, and dilemma discussions. 2,3,[16][17][18] These teaching modalities and their associated assessment tasks can be categorized into Miller's model of competence, which outlines four distinct levels of learning in a bid to achieve competence. 19 The purported "success" of these methods, however, has not been reliably measured with a validated tool, but rather hinged on the feedback and opinions of the students in each study.…”