The effect of transitioning from residency to pharmacy practice on learning style.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the evolution of learning styles of pharmacy residents as they transition from residency to practice.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey and interview-based study. A complete provincial cohort of former pharmacy residents (N=28), who had their learning styles characterized with the Pharmacists' Inventory of Learning Styles (PILS) at the beginning of their residency and, 1 year post-residency, were invited to repeat the PILS. Interviews were administered to consenting participants to gain additional insight.


RESULTS
Twenty-seven of the former residents (96%) completed the PILS survey and 16 (59%) completed the post-PILS interview. Thirteen (48%) changed their dominant learning style and 20 (74%) changed their secondary learning style. Six (22%) participants did not change either learning style. The overall proportion of dominant assimilators (59%) and convergers (26%) remained similar to baseline (52% and 26%, respectively), meaning participants had adopted and abandoned different learning style in similar numbers. Change in learning style was associated with being a preceptor (p<0.05), as 58% of the 12 former residents who became preceptors stated in the interview they had adjusted their teaching practices based on knowledge of their learning styles gained during their residency.


CONCLUSIONS
Changing learning style is common for former residents after 1 year in postresidency practice. There is no overall direction to the change; former residents transition into and out of various learning styles with similar frequency and retain preferences for passive/abstract learning approaches over active/concrete ones. The early-career lability in learning style the study demonstrated may reveal an opportunity to guide pharmacists toward more active learning preferences through residency curricula, preceptorship, and mentorship.
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Peter S
PS
Loewen
St. Paul's Hospital, Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Anca
A
Jelescu-Bodos
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada ; St. Paul's Hospital, Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Janice
J
Yeung
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Torey
T
Lau
D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010604:Pharmacy / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D064172:Pharmacy Residencies / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D011231:Preceptorship / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends
Learning styles; residency