Self-Directed Learning’s Place in Pharmacy Curriculum

William Cappuccio
PGY-1 Resident University of Maryland Medical Center

When I was a pharmacy student, the COVID-19 Pandemic had forced us into online learning environments. This was the first time that I was introduced to the concept of Self Directed Learning (SLD). Robinson and Colleagues (2020) define SLD as a process where students take responsibility for learning well beyond what is presented by an external body. (2) The external body is represented as a teacher, lecture, or classroom in which the responsibility of learning falls on the instructor and their materials. During the Pandemic, many of my colleagues felt cheated because they believed that the amount of money they were paying for tuition should not constitute the need for SLD. Yet, for pharmacists to improve their practice, it is essential for them to be lifelong learners. They must develop the ability to learn about subjects without the guidance of an instructor. This independence is important for a pharmacist because they need to be able to take information they have gathered and implement into their own practice. This leaves the question of SLD’s place in pharmacy learning? Here I will dive into the basics of Self-Directed Learning, its place in pharmacy practice, and whom it is best used for within the pharmacy curriculum.

Helping a learner develop the skill of Self Directed Learning is a 6 step process. It includes: developing goals for study, developing an assessment to know when the learner has reached their goals, identify structure and sequence of activities to achieve their goal, lay out a timeline to complete their activities, identify resources to complete their activities, and locate a mentor/faculty member to provide feedback on their plan (2). This process is extensive and can be a lot for a learner to take on especially as a P1 student. What is important to note is that implementing this process should be a sequential process(2). It should happen gradually as the student progresses out of the classroom and into experiential learning space. As this happens the responsibility of learning should then shift from teacher to student. Yet many times this is often implemented too early in a curriculum and is often an expectation from the beginning of a student pharmacist’s career. This can easily overwhelm the student resulting in a loss of motivation. Timing is everything in a student’s career and experience, and it is up to the instructor to understand when students should be comfortable enough to learn independently.

Self Directed learning is best facilitated when the learner is intrinsically motivated, or has the desire to look into pharmacy related information themselves. Akbar and colleagues (2017) found that in medical students, when they scored high on intrinsic motivation inventory (IMI), it correlated with a higher self directed learning readiness scale (SLRDS). (3). What is great about graduate professions is that students are usually intrinsically motivated to learn about their selected field of study. After all they did choose the profession! Yet, not all students find intrinsic motivation easy to come by. Many factors can  influence their motivation and what drives them to be motivated can often be halted by factors out of their control.

There are also often barriers within an academic system that can impede SLD development and impact intrinsic motivation. Douglass and colleagues (2014) report three stages in which barriers are developed to self directed learning: student-controlled, faculty-controlled, and administration-controlled(1). Student-controlled barriers included the ability to be proactive in class, proactive with other students, proactivity outside of class, develop good study habits, and understanding their own learning styles. Faculty-controlled barriers included difficult class structure, curriculum design, and professor attitudes and traits. Administration-controlled barriers included lack of infrastructure, resources, and student incentives. It's easy to list the multitudes of barriers to learning, but it's hard to overcome these barriers. Resources are always limited, even in higher-education settings such as pharmacy schools. With limited resources it's important to direct them to the barriers that can be overcome and focus on skills that the student can learn and be responsible for honing themselves.

So with all these issues where does this leave Self-Directed Learning? In my opinion it is an essential skill for a pharmacist. Yet, it is something that is learned over time and is a skill that is continuously developed even after a student graduates and starts their career as a pharmacist. Its implementation should be layered into the curriculum starting with small activities such as drug information questions, pre-readings for lecture, or learning how to use drug information materials such as Micromedex. It then progresses into more complex activities such as setting learning goals for a rotation, implementing research project deadlines, or independent searches for complex patient related questions from a multidisciplinary team. This won't happen without the student’s own motivation to be a lifelong learner. I don’t think this is something they solely develop on their own. They learn it through examples of other pharmacist’s passion and their peers. They also learn it through praise and support from their peers and mentors. There are barriers to developing SLD skills and intrinsic motivation, but many can be overcome by giving students investigational skills to be independent. Resources are always limited, but delegating resources to the barriers the easiest to overcome is the best way to improve student’s ability to be successful Self-Directed Learners. In summary, Self Directed Learning is the essence of a true pharmacist and requires training to be able to utilize this essential skill. 

References:

1. Douglass, Carolinda, and Sherrill R. Morris. "Student perspectives on self-directed
learning." Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2014): 13-25.

2. Robinson, Jennifer D., and Adam M. Persky. "Developing self-directed learners."
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 84.3 (2020).

3. Akbar, S., M. Claramita, and T. N. Kristina. "Intrinsic motivation and self-directed
learning relationship: Strive for adult learning character formation." South-East