Self-Directed Learning in Pharmacy Schools

Rohini Choudhuri, PharmD

PGY-1 Pharmacy Resident

Suburban Hospital

The pharmacy profession is one where learning never ceases after graduating pharmacy school. It is vital for pharmacists to be consistently inquisitive and use critical thinking skills in order to stay up to date with new health care information and discoveries. This will allow for pharmacists to successfully practice evidence based medicine and provide the highest quality of care to patients.

The process of consistently learning while practicing is known as continuing professional development (CPD) and is a necessary skill all pharmacists should have. There are 4 stages to CPD: reflection, planning, learning/action, and evaluation. In the reflection stage, the learner identifies what topics he or she should learn about or become updated on, based on his or her practice setting. In this stage, the learner will also be aware of what his or her learning style is and identifying one’s learning style will allow him or her to study new knowledge in such a way that is maximally beneficial. In the planning stage, the learner will take his or her learning style in to account to plan out a way to learn and assimilate the information best. In this stage, the learner may also set certain learning objectives for him or her self better help break down and learn the new information. In the learning/action phase, the learner will encounter the new information and actively work to assimilate the new information with what he or she already knows in practice. In the evaluation phase, the learner will analyze how the newly learned information will and have changed practice and outcomes. Mastering these 4 stages of CPD are important in order for one to self-identify what his or her learning needs are and effectively create a plan to make sure he or she and self-learn new information successfully to meet those learning needs.

It is important that educators for future pharmacists prepare students for CPD throughout their pharmacy school career. An effective way to prepare students for life-long CPD when they become practicing pharmacists is by incorporating self-directed learning in to the pharmacy curriculum. In a traditional class set up, information is presented to students in a lecture format, where the flow of information is unidirectional: from the professor to the students. While this method of teaching is helpful in informing students what information they should learn and know for exam, it isn’t engaging students to actively look up information and self-teach and learn new topics that are coming out and being incorporated into practice. However, in self-directed learning, students are encouraged to actively search for information and literature to learn and better understand new theories and information that are used in practice. By constantly encouraging students to engage in self-directed learning, students will start building the tools to continually push themselves to actively learn new information even after graduating.

Successful mastery of self-directed learning during pharmacy school is the key stepping stone for mastering CPD upon graduating pharmacy school and practicing and caring for patients. Self-directed learning will push students to actively become well acquainted with the newest version of treatment guidelines. This is a valuable skill to have as it will give students the ability to analyze new information and understand how to apply it when approaching a patient case. With building this skill in pharmacy school, it will make the transition from student to practicing pharmacist much more seamless. It will make it easier for new pharmacists to understand how to effectively self reflect on their learning needs and how to search for the most up to date information that helps meet the identified learning needs.

Currently, pharmacy schools are encouraging faculty to incorporate self-directed learning into school curricula. It is important to do this in a step-wise fashion. As students progress year by year in pharmacy school, it is important to increase the amount of self-directed learning that the students are exposed to, prior to rotations. This will help prepare students for rotations and ultimately for post-graduate practice.

References

1. Tunney MM, Bell HM. Self-directed learning: preparing students for lifelong learning. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.885.5995&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Published 2011.

2. Baumgartner JL. Continuing professional development: 
What it means for student pharmacists
. https://www.pharmacist.com/continuing-professional-development-what-it-means-student-pharmacists. Published September 14, 2015.