(152) Games of the Heart: Evaluation of Cardiology-Based Activities Merging Science Knowledge and Pharmacy Practice Skills

Objective : To challenge first-year professional pharmacy students with skills lab activities that merge the basic science knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology of the heart with pharmacy practice.

Methods: In Spring 2023, faculty developed a novel lab aimed to enrich knowledge and illustrate the clinical relevance of the basic sciences. The game-based lab consisted of rotating stations for groups of four students: Cross Your Heart Crossword Puzzle, Heart Rate Bingo, Student Electrocardiograms, SimMan® Heart Sounds/Pulse, Name the Arrhythmia Challenge, Heart Model Matching, and Heart Terminology Heads-Up. Students worked together to complete the challenges, and a scorecard documented their progress. Student perceptions of confidence in their knowledge of the following content areas were obtained in pre- and post-lab surveys: 1) circulatory system, 2) conduction system, and 3) heart rate/arrhythmias.

Results: An unpaired two-tailed t-test demonstrated a significant increase in student perceptions of confidence in their knowledge in all three content areas evaluated (all p<.0001). Out of 65 students who completed the post-survey, 93.8% agreed that “the format was enjoyable and helped me to learn.” On a Likert scale of 1-5, with 5 being “highest confidence level,” students responded with an average of 3.3 for confidence in application of their basic science knowledge to pharmacy practice skills in the post-survey.

Conclusions: The survey results suggest this lab enhanced the perceived learning of students and may be versatile to utilize in other basic science knowledge sets. The faculty will continue to provide game-based lab activities to enrich and apply basic science knowledge of the heart to practice skills and to bridge student knowledge to the rigor and focus of clinical practice courses in a fun, competitive learning environment.