An elective course on career opportunities for pharmacy students.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is limited literature describing the outcomes of formal career guidance in pharmacy programs. This study assessed the course outcomes including students' satisfaction, achievement of the learning objectives and scoring on assignments. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: A 1-credit elective course aims at providing second- and third-year professional pharmacy students (P2 and P3) to career guidance. The main topics address career planning and paths, communication skills, personal and professional development, leadership and entrepreneurship. Included are written assignments, oral group presentations and mock interviews. FINDINGS: Data on 303 students, including 279 P2 and 24 P3, between 2012 and 2021 were analyzed using course evaluations, direct assessment and scoring. Average evaluations ratings were consistently above 4 on a 5-point scale including the clarity of the course policies and procedures (4.61) and its objectives and requirements (4.59), organization (4.58), instructors' simulated questions, responses, discussion and openness to other viewpoints (4.57) and quality (4.5). Students found the experience to be interesting and relevant to pharmacy practice. All students scored above 70% on the course assignments. DISCUSSION: Students were satisfied with the course and gave high ratings to the course content, delivery and in meeting its learning objectives. They scored high on the different course assignments. These findings are similar to the results of other studies reporting students' satisfaction with career guidance. SUMMARY: The career opportunities course is popular among pharmacy students who consistently reported their satisfaction with its content, design and delivery.