PGY-1 Pharmacy Resident
Sinai Hospital
Developing new, effective methods to engage students in their learning is often a significant challenge in higher education settings. Pharmacy schools, in particular, have been gradually implementing andragogic approaches to optimize student preparedness for the transition to advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) and subsequent post-graduate work. In order to succeed as a pharmacist, students must have a robust foundational knowledge of drug information, strong communication skills, and effective problem-solving capabilities. As part of the curricula of many pharmacy schools, students are expected to be heavily involved in their learning. Various learning activities such as breakout counseling sessions, simulated case scenarios, and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) have been employed to further students’ learning beyond the classroom. Nevertheless, teaching methods are constantly evolving as pharmacy schools aim to produce the most well-equipped pharmacists to tackle the dynamic healthcare landscape.
One teaching method that has been increasingly discussed throughout the literature is the peer teaching model. As the name suggests, pharmacy students would be involved in actively teaching concepts to their respective classmates or student learners from other healthcare specialties. This collective effort toward active learning allows students to work closely with their colleagues to bridge any gaps in knowledge. In order for students to be able to effectively teach certain concepts, they must first gain enough baseline knowledge through their own studies. Not only does this hopefully motivate students to become self-directed learners, but also students will be more confident as they transition into their APPEs.
Tsai et al. describe the implementation of a “Pre-APPE Readiness (PAR) Block” for third professional (P3) year students prior to the start of their APPEs. Based on a pre-assessment that evaluated students’ knowledge of general medication information, the authors noted that a significant number of students had difficulty retaining drug information learned during the earlier years of pharmacy school. Thus, the authors developed a six-week course in which each student was assigned a unique drug from a list of the top two hundred most commonly prescribed drugs. Four students were selected to present each week based on the specific drugs they were assigned. For instance, during a given week, one student would present on nitroglycerin and another student would present on sildenafil due to the established drug-drug interaction. The goal of these pairings was to aid students in understanding the relationships between certain drugs, whether they were synergistic, antagonistic, or analogous. Course facilitators summarized the key points at the end of each presentation and assisted the presenter in answering any questions from the student audience. Finally, each session concluded with a brief quiz with immediate feedback to assess for any knowledge gaps. Ultimately, the authors found that after the implementation of the PAR Block, there were significantly less students who performed poorly on the pre-assessment that was administered before the start of APPEs.1
By the same token, Delnero and Vyas describe the impact of a peer-taught interprofessional education (IPE) activity involving pharmacy and physician assistant (PA) students. Prior to the activity, students formed teams consisting of one PA student and four to five pharmacy students. The main premise of the activity was that teams would be teaching each other in breakout sessions about key skills related to physical assessment, inhaler counseling, or diabetes education. For example, the PA student would provide instruction about performing lung auscultation and the pharmacy student would provide education about appropriate administration of various inhalers. Overall, the authors concluded that the IPE activity led to improved confidence and enhanced interprofessional attitudes.2
Based on the two educational models implemented in the previously discussed studies, peer teaching appears to be an effective learning method for pharmacy students. Peer teaching adheres to the concepts of andragogy in which students are self-directed and draw from their own baseline knowledge to provide education to their colleagues. Additionally, peer teaching is supported by the notions of cognitive and social congruence in which students share the same knowledge framework. Based on these theories, students are better able to relate to one another and address gaps in knowledge.3 Thus, peer teaching models should continue to be incorporated into the curricula of pharmacy schools and be used in conjunction with other active learning methods to enhance student engagement.
References:
1. Tsai T, Vo K, Ostrogorsky TL, et al. A peer-teaching model to reinforce pharmacy students' clinical knowledge of commonly prescribed medications. Am J Pharm Educ. 2021;85(5):8451. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8174616/
2. DelNero T, Vyas D. Peer teaching in an interprofessional education activity focused on professional skills development. Pharmacy (Basel). 2021;9(2):112. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8293411/
3. Loda T, Erschens R, Loenneker H, et al. Cognitive and social congruence in peer-assisted learning - A scoping review. PLoS One. 2019;14(9):e0222224. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6733464/
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