Pharmacy faculty and students' perceptions of standardized patients for objective structured clinical examinations.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) are one method of assessing clinical competency and communication in doctor of pharmacy programs. The purpose of this study was to capture student and faculty perceptions regarding the use of standardized patients (SPs) in administering OSCEs. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: Pharmacy students in our program initially participated in OSCEs using internal-SPs (I-SPs) that consisted of faculty and staff acting as patients. One year later, we piloted use of trained actor-based SPs and surveyed students and faculty about the experience. FINDINGS: Fifty-four (80.6%) students and 12 (92.3%) faculty members completed the survey. When asked about their interactions with SPs, 42 (77.8%) students either agreed or strongly agreed that SPs portrayed patients more realistically and 41 (75.9%) students perceived SPs created a more comfortable environment for patient communication than I-SPs. Thirty-six (66.7%) students either agreed or strongly agreed to feeling more confident when communicating with patients, and 33 (61.1%) felt more confident making recommendations. Ten (83.3%) faculty members either agreed or strongly agreed that SPs portrayed patient interactions more realistically, and 7 (58.3%) felt SPs were more consistent in their simulated patient portrayal for the duration of the OSCE. SUMMARY: Pharmacy students felt more confident in their ability to communicate and interact with the patient during their OSCEs when actor-based SPs were used. Both students and faculty members perceived this SP portrayal of patient interactions as more realistic than I-SPs and recommended the continued use of actor-based SPs for OSCEs.

Comparison of pharmacy students' perceptions and attitudes toward spirometry first-hand experience versus paper-based active learning.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Spirometry is often technically challenging for patients. Previous studies have demonstrated the potential benefits of spirometry in the community pharmacy setting. This study compared pharmacy students' perceptions and attitudes toward performing spirometry, as well as implementing spirometry in clinics and community pharmacies through experiencing spirometry first-hand versus completing paper-based active learning exercises. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: First-year (N = 102) and second-year (N = 70) pharmacy students were provided with the same pre-class materials to learn about the spirometry process. During class, first-year (P1) students performed spirometry tests, while second-year (P2) students completed paper-based active learning exercises about spirometry without performing the test. A survey was provided to each group at the end of the class to: (1) compare students' perception of the difficulty of performing spirometry, and (2) identify patient, clinic, and pharmacy barriers to implementing spirometry testing. FINDINGS: P1 students perceived performing spirometry as significantly more difficult compared to P2 students. Both P1 and P2 students perceived correct posture and breathing technique, and patient discomfort as the most difficult parts of performing spirometry. Significantly more P1 students (91.1%) perceived spirometry as a "helpful and noninvasive tool to screen for pulmonary diseases" than P2 students (54.1%). SUMMARY: Students who experienced spirometry perceived it to be more difficult than those who completed paper-based active learning exercises. Incorporating spirometry into a pharmacy curriculum could be an opportunity to increase students' insight of the difficulty of performing spirometry and their appreciation for the clinical services pharmacists can provide.