(155) Impact of a Hands-on Continuous Glucose Monitoring Activity for Third-Year Pharmacy Students

Objective : The use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in diabetes management has grown exponentially. Pharmacists are often responsible for dispensing these devices and educating patients on their use. To enhance pharmacy students’ knowledge of and comfort with CGM, a hands-on activity was implemented in a required skills laboratory course. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CGM activity.

Methods: All pharmacy students enrolled in a didactic third-year pharmacy skills lab course (n=116) were provided with a brief CGM lesson and wore a Dexcom G6 CGM device for ten days. Students completed a pre-post survey about their confidence related to CGM knowledge and skills with five-point Likert scale response options. The post-survey also contained an open-ended question about how the experience would impact their future practice as pharmacists. Pre-post data was analyzed using a paired samples t-test and open-ended questions were analyzed by three researchers using a thematic analysis process.

Results: Student confidence significantly increased (p <.001) for all survey items which included knowledge and understanding of CGM, understanding the goals of CGM, ability to educate a patient on the use of a CGM device, and ability to interpret an Ambulatory Glucose Profile. Three themes emerged: 1) experiencing a day in the life of an individual with diabetes; 2) bringing didactic knowledge into practice; and 3) confidence in patient counseling and education.

Conclusions: Allowing students to learn about and wear a CGM offered significant value and will improve their ability to engage with and assist in the management of persons with diabetes in the future.