(201) Use of MyDispense for Validation (Errors and Omissions) Activities

Objective : The primary objective was to evaluate the relationship between previous community pharmacy experience and performance on validation (Errors and Omissions) activities in a skills lab setting. The secondary objective was to examine student perceptions of using MyDispense for validation activities.

Methods: All students enrolled in a skills lab course in Spring 2022 were surveyed to determine amount of community pharmacy work experience and perceptions of using MyDispense for validation activities. Community pharmacy experience was correlated to performance on validation activities using Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Descriptive statistics were utilized to quantify student perceptions.

Results: Of the 71 students enrolled in the course, 63 completed the questionnaire. Forty-four respondents indicated having some amount of community pharmacy experience prior to the semester initiation. There was a slight positive correlation between amount of community experience and average performance across all five validation activities, r(61)=.20, p=0.115. The correlation was strongest for performance on the very first validation activity, r(61)=.34, p=0.006. Of those with prior experience, 81.8% felt having experience was somewhat or very helpful in completion of validation activities. At course conclusion, 93.7% of respondents reported being somewhat or very confident in identifying errors and omissions. The majority (87.3%) felt MyDispense was beneficial for completion of these activities.

Conclusions: There was a positive correlation between community pharmacy experience and performance on the first validation activity. The correlation lessened with completion of additional validation exercises. This indicates providing sufficient practice through validation activities allows students without prior community pharmacy experience to ultimately identify errors and omissions as successfully as those with previous experience. Additionally, MyDispense was viewed favorably by students as a means to complete validation exercises.