Experiential Learning in a Gamified Pharmacy Simulation: A Qualitative Exploration Guided by Semantic Analysis

Abstract

Experiential learning is an important component of pharmacist education and is primarily achieved through supervised placement or simulation. This study explored senior pharmacy students’ experiential learning in an extended, immersive, gamified simulation, conducted as a capstone learning activity toward the end of their final year of study, consolidating all prior learning and preparing students for intern practice. The simulation aimed to enhance student confidence, competence and collaboration. The three-week activity involved student teams competitively managing simulated pharmacies, assuming the role of pharmacists to complete all scaffolded assessments, including dispensing prescriptions, clinical cases, verbal counselling, simulated patient cases, interprofessional collaboration, and assignments. Assessments were marked continuously, with consequences of practice acknowledged through gain or loss of ‘patients’ for the pharmacy. From 2016 to 2018, 123 students completed multiple individual reflective journals (n = 733). Reflective journals were analyzed to explore the student experience, using a mixed methods approach. Initial Leximancer® 4.51 semantic analysis guided thematic analysis, conducted in NVivo® 12. The major themes that emerged were teamwork, patient-centeredness, medicines provision, future practice, and the learning experience. Student participants reported an intense and emotional experience in the gamified simulation, with many students revealing transformation in their skills, behaviors and attitudes over its duration.

The International Pharmacy Game: A Comparison of Implementation in Seven Universities World-Wide

“…The concept was shown to be a useful platform for practicing interprofessional education. For example, students from Griffith University positively reflected upon the interprofessional learning opportunities from their Pharmacy Game and welcomed the opportunity to simulate professional exchanges with medical professionals [ 29 ]. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, it is the only pharmacist educational tool based on the convergence of simulation and gaming, used by multiple universities.…”

“…Finally, all data on the learning outcomes were reviewed to identify a common suite of learning outcomes. These The questionnaire was distributed to all seven universities that had implemented the Pharmacy Game, namely, the University of Groningen [5,14,27] and Utrecht University [20,21,23], Netherlands; Vrije Universiteit Brussel [28], Belgium; University of Nottingham and University of Bath, England; Vilnius University, Lithuania; and Griffith University, Australia [29]. One representative from each university was the contact person completing the questionnaire.…”

“…The University of Groningen has published descriptive studies on the Pharmacy Game, GIMMICS ® [ 5 , 14 , 27 ]; Utrecht University has published research related to their Pharmacy Game [ 20 , 21 , 23 ]; and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel published on the application of their Pharmacy Game, GIMMICS ® , in medical students [ 28 ]. Griffith University recently published on students’ experiential learning in their Pharmacy Game, PharmG [ 29 ]. Additionally, several of the Pharmacy Game universities have presented student outcomes and preliminary research results at international conferences, including the University of Groningen [ 30 , 31 ], Utrecht University [ 32 , 33 ], University of Nottingham [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ], and Griffith University [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”

Virtualized Gamified Pharmacy Simulation during COVID-19

“…The Griffith University adaptation of the Pharmacy Game, PharmG, has been delivered as a capstone activity for final semester students since 2016 to prepare graduates for pharmacy internship and real-world professional practice [8]. Research undertaken by Griffith University on experiential learning in the gamified simulation confirmed its ability to support teamwork and collaborative learning [9]. Analysis of student participants' reflective journals revealed the transformative capacity of the Pharmacy Game to influence their professional identities, patient-centeredness and future practice [9].…”

Pharmacy Education Development

“…Hope and colleagues in Australia further analyzed the students' written reflections of the pharmacy game using semantic thematic analysis [4]. The major themes that emerged were teamwork, patient-centeredness, medicines provision, future practice, and the learning experience.…”