(61) A Longitudinal Collaboration to Practice Critical Thinking in Experiential Education and Patient Care Laboratories

Objective : Simulate complex patient case presentations with on-the-spot questions to improve student critical thinking skills and prepare them for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs).

Methods: In two quarters of year two in an accelerated PharmD program, students are given a patient scenario used for case presentation activities in skills-based classes. In Introduction to Pharmacy Practice (IPPE) seminar, students present this case to a preceptor in 5-minutes in order to mimic patient work-up and presentation to preceptors on APPE rotations. Students are asked questions related to the patient and disease states in an on-the-spot fashion. If students do not know the answer to the question, they should state where to look up the information. Students are assessed using a Critical Thinking Rubric, which evaluates the ability to identify the correct answer to the patient’s primary issue, rationale, supporting patient-specific and literature-based evidence, and how well the student handles the critical thinking questions.

Results: A post-graduation survey sent to the Class of 2022 indicated patient case presentations were one of the most common activities completed on APPEs, with 87.8% reporting this activity as Extremely or Somewhat Helpful when preparing for rotations. A total of 264 activities were completed between 2020 and 2022, with 9 (3.5%) students requiring remediation. Two students remediated in both quarters this activity was delivered. Three students received subsequent unsatisfactory grades in IPPE Seminar or clinical rotations.

Conclusions: Students feel simulated case presentations in IPPE seminar prepare them for similar experiences in APPEs. Remediation of this activity may identify students who are at risk of not passing skills-based courses or rotations.