Self-directed pharmacotherapy learning to fifth-year pharmacy students in Spain

Pharmacy students have a difficulty in implementing the theoretical pharmacotherapy knowledge into practice, during their Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs). The objective of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of a teaching tool to guide students’ self-directed pharmacotherapy learning. Students checked their own knowledge about: generic name, drug class, indication, dosage, potential adverse reactions and interactions, of 10 prescription drugs per week, during six months of practical training. Students recorded a self-assessment of their level of knowledge of prescription drugs using an answer sheet. The effectiveness was determined by a pharmacotherapy knowledge test at the beginning and end of the APPE. Thirty two students who set up this exercise were evaluated and compared to control group (n=30). Results showed improvement between the intervention and control students’ pre-test and post-test pharmacotherapy knowledge (p=0.001). Additionally, student learning development was measured as the percentage of correct answers, related to students’ level of pharmacotherapy knowledge, filled out using the answer sheet, in the course of the 6 months of APPE. Analysis of 8 answer sheets showed an increment of pharmacotherapy learning during six months. “Indication” and “drug class” displayed the biggest percentage of correct answer in the first month, while “dosage”, “interactions” and “adverse reactions” showed the least percentage of correct answer at this time. Besides, this analysis allowed the identification of commonly prescription drugs, both in community pharmacy and hospital pharmacy. The overall students ‘opinion was very positive. Designed method improved student’s self-directed learning, identifying their own knowledge in pharmacotherapy, during APPE.