Qualitative Evaluation of a Practice-based Experience Pilot Program for Master of Pharmacy Students in Scotland.
Objective.To determine the views of pharmacists in central Scotland regarding experiential education for MPharm students.Methods.A thematic analysis was completed by Ms. Gillian Hendry and Dr. Sally Wiggins of interviews conducted with ten practicing pharmacists paired with first-year master of pharmacy (MPharm) students during the 2011-2012 academic year. Relevant comments from the interviews were manually sorted in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to bring similarly themed material together to facilitate the identification and naming of recurring themes and subthemes.Results.The pharmacists were unanimous in their opinion that experiential education was valuable for MPharm students and, in particular, that it helped students to develop self-confidence. The pharmacists derived personal satisfaction in developing mentor/mentee relationships with students. They also recognized the value that students provided to the workforce as well as the educational value to themselves in supervising students. The participants' primary dissatisfaction was that the pharmacy workflow limited the time they could spend mentoring students.Conclusion.The results provide guidance to the academic community and the pharmacy practice community in the United Kingdom (UK) regarding the design and integration of experiential education courses in MPharm degree programs.
School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
Gillian
G
Hendry
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
Philip
P
Winn
Department of Behavioural Science and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Sally
S
Wiggins
Retired but formerly with Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado.
Christopher J
CJ
Turner
D000068:Accreditation / Q000592:standards; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010595:Pharmacists; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011231:Preceptorship; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D012606:Scotland; D013339:Students, Pharmacy
MPharm program; accreditation standards; experiential education; practice-based education; preceptors