(142) Evaluating Perceptions of Test Anxiety Among Student Pharmacists and Faculty Members

Objective : To evaluate student pharmacists and faculty perceptions of student test anxiety.

Methods: Two independent Qualtrics® surveys were distributed via email. The first evaluated second through fourth year pharmacy students’ test anxiety including self-awareness of personal test anxiety. The second evaluated faculty members’ perceptions of student test anxiety. The surveys had 53 and 21 questions for students and faculty, respectively, and were developed from validated, reliable surveys used in Cognitive Test Anxiety research.

Results: Surveys were completed by 123 students and 19 faculty. Forty-five percent of students felt they had “high test anxiety”, but only 28% had a CTAS-2 score that correlated to severe test anxiety. More than half of student respondents (63%) felt test anxiety had a large impact on their lifestyle, but only 12% believed that they needed treatment for their test anxiety. Most faculty respondents (84%) believed that less than 30% of students are affected by severe test anxiety, and only 31% strongly believed that test anxiety impacted students’ pharmacy school experience. Most faculty respondents (94%) indicated that they felt confident in their ability to help a student with test anxiety. Both students (73%) and faculty (70%) agreed that adequate assistance was available from the university for coping with test anxiety.

Conclusions: Student pharmacists’ self-perception of test anxiety may be overestimated. Overall, faculty accurately estimated the degree of test anxiety, felt confident in being able to help students, and believed test anxiety should receive attention from both faculty and the university.