Original Research
Sunday, November 12, 2023
12:45 PM–02:15 PM
Abstract
Introduction:
Persky et al. discussed the importance of building the framework of critical thinking into pharmacy education. Within our school of pharmacy’s skills lab, students are expected to use high-level clinical reasoning; however, there are limited intentional activities to teach critical thinking. Additionally, it is not known how these types of activities would impact student perception of their critical thinking skills.
Research Question or Hypothesis:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of intentional critical thinking activities in a skills lab setting. Our hypothesis was that adding these activities would improve student confidence in critical thinking skills.
Study Design:
This was an IRB exempt one-group pretest-posttest survey-based study of students within one semester in a skills lab sequence.
Methods:
P2 and P3 students completed three intentional critical thinking activities during skills lab sessions. For P2s, the cases focused on the identification and prioritization of clinically relevant problems. For P3s, attention was directed towards communicating patient specific issues. All participating students (n=180) were invited to take a survey prior to and at the conclusion of the semester. Students were asked to rate their confidence on seven critical thinking objectives using a scale of 1 (low confidence) to 7 (high confidence).
Results:
There were 34 responses to the pre-semester survey (26 P2 students, 8 P3 students) and 7 responses to the post-semester survey (7 P2 students). The mean confidence ratings increased for all critical thinking objectives, most notably comparing diverse points of view (pre-semester mean: 6.18; post-semester mean: 7.14) and communicating an effective response or conclusion (pre-semester mean: 6.00; post-semester mean: 7.14).
Conclusion:
Due to low response rates, limited conclusions can be made regarding changes in student confidence because of these activities. However, information regarding the activities could provide insight into innovative instructional techniques designed to intentionally target critical thinking within the skills lab setting.
Presenting Author
Tressa McMorris PharmD, BCPSUniversity of Mississippi School of Pharmacy
Authors
Amanda Capino PharmD, BCPP
University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy
Emily Tschumper PharmD,MS,BCPS
The University of Mississippi