Objective : To assess final-year pharmacy students’ experiences of a New North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination® (NAPLEX®) Preparation Module in the pharmacy curriculum at one United States college of pharmacy.
Methods: A twenty-item electronic survey was administered to all final-year students enrolled in a NAPLEX preparation module in Spring 2023 (n=118). Twelve items explored student perceptions and opinions towards the NAPLEX preparation assignments on a six-point Likert scale. Items asked about importance and timing in the curriculum, helpfulness, confidence building, prioritization, choice of assignments, grading, and time management. Two items explored students’ preferences towards the module structure followed by six descriptive items. Data were analyzed descriptively.
Results: A total of 31 preliminary responses were received. The majority of respondents were from the Tucson campus (65%), female (65%), white (55%), non-Hispanic (85%), worked up to eight hours per week (61%), and were first generation college students (58%). The median score was four (indicating somewhat agree) for two items, five (indicating agree) for six items, and six (indicating strongly agree) for four items. The interquartile range was between one and two for all items. When asked about course structure, 19 (61%) respondents preferred a self-directed online (asynchronous) course. When asked about course assignments, 14 (45%) respondents preferred a variety of both and short and long assignments with a greater proportion of shorter assignments, while 11 (36%) preferred only short assignments.
Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest student pharmacists at one United States college of pharmacy had positive experiences of a final-year NAPLEX preparation module. Data collection continues to obtain a larger (more generalizable) sample size. Further qualitative research (eg, interviews) is needed to explore these experiences in greater detail.
