(163) Incorporation of Improvisation Exercises to Improve Communication Skills among Student Pharmacists

Objective :

Objective: To describe students’ perception of improvisation exercises as part of a communication skills workshop.

Methods:

Methods: Faculty developed an 80-minute communication skills workshop incorporating improvisation exercises for a first-year pharmacy skills course. Improv-trained actors facilitated the session, with 1 facilitator per group of 10 students. Prior to the session, all facilitators attended a 1-hour training with faculty and were provided a facilitator guide. The guide included instructions for 5 improv exercises and guided debrief questions to help students draw a connection between the communication skills practiced and future pharmacy practice. After workshop, students were assigned an anonymous survey. The survey asked students to rank their level of agreement with different statements utilizing a 5-point Likert scale. Open-ended questions focusing on what was learned and suggestions for improvement were also included. Data from two years of the workshop were retrospectively analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.

Results:

Results: Over two years, 192 students participated in the workshop and all completed the survey. Most students either strongly agreed or agreed that the workshop was a positive learning experience (93.8%, n=180/192) and they will be able to apply what they learned to future pharmacy practice (93.2%, n=179/192). Common themes on what students learned included the importance of active listening and the challenges of effective communication. Students commented positively on their workshop experience and the majority of students either strongly agreed or agreed that this workshop should be continued in this course for future students (89.1%, n=171/192).

Conclusions:

Conclusion: Including improvisation exercises within a communication skills workshop was well-received by pharmacy students. Future evaluation of the impact of such exercises on communication skills is warranted.