Assessment of pharmacy students' patient care skills using case scenarios with a SOAP note grading rubric and standardized patient feedback.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To determine if the patient care and documentation skills of pharmacy students improve in the third professional (P3) year using a subjective, objective, assessment, plan (SOAP) note grading rubric and a standardized patient (SP) checklist rubric with SPs taking the role as evaluator during a sequential system of case scenarios. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: During a required skills laboratory course in the P3 year at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, students were evaluated with a SOAP note grading rubric and an SP checklist rubric during three consecutive SP case scenarios (hypertension, diabetes, asthma). FINDINGS: Overall, scores for the sequential case scenarios improved across all three scenarios through the use of SOAP notes (F = 96.89, p < 0.0001). For the SP evaluations, total score improved for the second and third case scenarios versus the first (F = 27.48, p < 0.0001). SUMMARY: Patient care skills of P3 pharmacy students improved during a sequential system of case scenarios using a SOAP note grading rubric and an SP checklist rubric as objectively developed evaluation tools, with SPs taking the role as evaluator.