Establishing a successful teaching assistant program in pharmacy skills laboratory courses

Developing supervisory and precepting skills through simulation: Near peer teaching in a skills laboratory

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Near-peer teaching is an innovative approach to teaching the skills of supervising and precepting while benefiting students with different levels of experience and academic training. This study describes near-peer activities in skills-based laboratory courses that provided opportunities for one-on-one teaching to benefit learners in the introductory lab courses while simultaneously training more advanced students for future supervisory and precepting roles.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY & SETTING

Three community pharmacy near-peer teaching simulations were designed and implemented: 1) Patient Counseling and Medication Adherence, 2) Dispensing and Patient Counseling, and 3) Drug Utilization Review and Prescriber Calls. These activities took place over two semesters of a pharmacy skills lab with all first- and third-year Doctor of Pharmacy students.

FINDINGS

In Autumn 2019, 80% (111/139) of P1s and 67% (80/119) of P3s responded to the course evaluation survey. In Spring 2020, 73% (100/137) of P1s and 68% (80/118) of P3s responded to the course evaluation survey. The P3s reported increased confidence in their ability to provide meaningful feedback, while P1s reported increased confidence in communicating with patients and healthcare providers. Performance data revealed that most P1s and P3s completed dispensing and communication activities accurately using a near-peer approach. Overall, the P1s and P3s felt the activities were valuable learning experiences.

SUMMARY

The near-peer activities described in this study fill a gap in the training of pharmacy graduates for future precepting and supervisory roles. Evaluation of these near-peer activities suggest that both junior and senior learners benefit from simulated preceptor-intern interactions, supporting this innovative approach to address supervisory and precepting responsibilities.

Perceptions of near-peer teaching in a pharmacy skills-based laboratory

OBJECTIVE

To assess the perception of students, faculty, and previous lab coaches on a near-peer teaching model integrated into a skills-based laboratory.

METHODS

As part of a longitudinal near-peer teaching experience, third professional year students are utilized as lab coaches in a skills-based laboratory course. Lab coaches deliver lectures, provide feedback, facilitate activities, and assist with class preparation spanning 2 semesters for first and second professional year students. Students enrolled in the courses received an anonymous 12-question survey to assess the comfort and helpfulness of feedback when working with a lab coach and faculty during the 2021-2022 academic year. Statistical analysis was conducted using descriptive and inferential statistics for survey questions, and thematic analysis for open-ended responses. Semi-structured interviews with previous lab coaches and faculty were conducted, and thematic analysis was utilized for the responses.

RESULTS

The student survey had an 81.4% response rate (n = 114). Students were significantly more comfortable working with and asking questions to a lab coach than a faculty instructor (mean [SD] of 4.78 [0.66] vs 4.44 [0.75]). Nine (75%) previous lab coaches and 6 (43%) faculty members were also interviewed. A total of 6 themes regarding perceptions of the lab coach position emerged: positive impact on personal and professional development; relationship building; rewarding experience recommended to others; robust teaching experience; struggles and challenges faced by both faculty and lab coaches; appreciation of the position by faculty.

CONCLUSION

Implementing near-peer teachers into a pharmacy skills-based laboratory was very well received by students, previous lab coaches, and faculty.

It Is Never Too Early to Start: Educating Health Science Students to Become Future Educators

Teachers lead, learn, and live as they walk through the journey of education, experiencing humanity in and outside their classrooms. No task is small when it comes to teaching; it is a craftsmanship that takes years to develop, and never too early to get started. In this commentary, the authors extract thoughtful viewpoints from years of teaching experience regarding how to inspire and engage more students to become educators. After all, nothing is more exciting and rewarding for a teacher than to make more and better teachers.

A lot in a little: Assessment of skills laboratory course structures and faculty workloads

INTRODUCTION

Pharmacy skills development is essential to pharmacy programs to ensure "practice-ready" graduates. The objective was to describe the landscape of skills laboratory (lab) courses and faculty workload across United States schools and colleges of pharmacy (S/COP).

METHODS

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Laboratory Instructors Special Interest Group disseminated an anonymous questionnaire to collect faculty demographics, skills lab format, faculty workload, and job satisfaction. Descriptive statistics were generated, and paired t-tests were used to assess changes before and during COVID-19.

RESULTS

Faculty from 44 of 142 S/COP responded. Participants (n = 45) were more frequently assistant professors (49%), non-tenure track (80%), and female (98%). A mean of 103 students per class, with a mean of two lab courses in both the first and second years and 1.6 in the third year were reported. Courses had a mean 1.6 lab coordinators each. Many institutions leverage non-lab faculty, pharmacy volunteers, post-graduate trainees, and senior professional students to assist. Faculty reported a mean 28.2 hours per week related to lab activities. The mean assigned percent effort was 44% for teaching in the skills lab, demonstrating consistency with effort calculations. Job satisfaction (scale 1-10) decreased from 7.6 before COVID-19 to 6.4 during COVID-19 (P < .01), with satisfaction specifically with their lab role decreasing from 7.5 to 6.6 (P = .003).

CONCLUSIONS

Skills lab faculty reported significant time coordinating labs and identified the need for additional support. S/COP should ensure appropriate personnel resources are available to provide quality clinical skills training.

Interprofessional peer teaching: The value of a pharmacy student-led pharmacology course for physical therapy students

BACKGROUND

This report describes the creation, implementation, and evaluation of an interprofessional pharmacy student-led pharmacology course for physical therapy students. The course was designed using a flipped classroom model and a peer-assisted learning framework.

INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION ACTIVITY

We describe the development, design, assessment, and evaluation of a pharmacy student-led pharmacology course for physical therapy students. This report focuses specifically on the interprofessional aspect of the course, which was measured using the student perceptions of physician-pharmacist interprofessional clinical education (SPICE) instrument.

DISCUSSION

The SPICE instrument was measured across two cohorts in 2015 and 2016. Each cohort consisted of approximately 50 physical therapy students. After implementation of the course, there were significant improvements across all three domains of the SPICE instrument: interprofessional teamwork, roles/responsibilities for collaborative practice, and patient outcomes from collaborative practice (P < .01). Qualitative feedback from the physical therapy students and pharmacy student teaching assistants was positive and emphasized the benefits of interprofessional peer teaching.

IMPLICATIONS

Overall, this interprofessional peer teaching model effectively improved interprofessional attitudes while accomplishing didactic needs. This innovative course may serve as a model for interprofessional education in different subject areas or across other health professions programs.