Incorporating a medication therapy management course in a pharmacy undergraduate curriculum: description of implementation and outcomes

Abstract

Background: The objective of the study is to describe the implementation of a medication therapy management course into the PharmD curriculum with an objective standardized clinical examination, and to assess the impact on students’ knowledge, skills, and satisfaction. Methods: A new medication therapy management course was started for undergraduate pharmacy students. It was then altered to incorporate more active learning and skill-assessment measures; one such alteration was the addition of an objective standardized clinical examination to assess medication therapy management skills. A cross-sectional survey was used to assess the students’ perceptions and satisfaction with the medication therapy management course and the evaluation method. Results: Most students agreed that the weekly medication therapy management simulation activities helped them achieve the course learning outcomes (83%). When asked about the objective standardized clinical examination, most of them also agreed that they were well-oriented and prepared (78%). Students reported few drawbacks like lack of time (41%) and having different assessors at objective standardized clinical examination stations (56%). Conclusion: Implementation of medication therapy management course within the undergraduate pharmacy curriculum help shape the students’ clinical skills and introduce them to this emerging field.