An active learning complementary and alternative medicine session in a self-care therapeutics class

Integrative Medicine Elective for the Well-being of Pharmacy Students

OBJECTIVE

To describe the impact of an integrative medicine elective on the well-being of pharmacy students at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and examine the relationship between perceived stress and happiness.

METHODS

Students completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) before and 3 months after taking the course. Our study compared the outcomes of each composite score from the PSS and SHS before and after course participation to detect any difference. The interpretation of single composite scores was analyzed similarly. The correlation of the PSS and SHS was checked to determine their relationships, and the correlation between the change in PSS and the time the students spent practicing their identified integrative modality were also analyzed to detect whether any association existed.

RESULTS

A total of 49 students completed the prewellness and postwellness inventories over 3 offerings of the class (2020, 2022, and 2023). There was a decrease in PSS of.8 that was not statistically significant, with most students reporting moderate perceived stress on the pre-PSS and post-PSS. The average SHS was 4.7. There was a strong negative correlation between PSS and SHS. There was a moderate negative correlation between the time practicing the integrative medicine modality and postcourse PSS.

CONCLUSION

This practical, hands-on experience will add nonpharmacologic tools to the pharmacy student tool kit, which could be used in patient care and pharmacy student wellness.

Integration of Latin American Complementary and Alternative Medicine Topics Into a Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum and Survey of Student Attitudes and Behaviors

One in 3 adults report using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and as many as 7 in 10 Hispanic patients report CAM use. Pharmacists often encounter patients who use CAM products and therefore college of pharmacy curricular standards require both CAM and cultural competence training; however, there is little guidance for colleges on how to best deliver this material. In Fall 2017, Larkin University College of Pharmacy implemented a curricular change wherein first professional (P1) year pharmacy students selected, researched, and presented on a CAM product from Latin America. Pre-post surveys were administered to the students to measure their attitudes and behaviors toward CAM before and after completing their project. Survey results showed that student attitudes and behaviors toward CAM were largely unchanged; however, post-survey results showed that students agreed that they knew where to search for Latin American CAM information (P < 0.05). Integration of Latin American CAM topics was successfully implemented in the P1 year of a Doctor of Pharmacy degree curriculum to foster cultural competence.

Redesigning a Pharmacology Course to Promote Active Learning

Objective. To incorporate active-learning sessions into a lecture-based pharmacology course, assess the impact on student learning and attitudes, and address commonly perceived barriers to implementing active learning. Methods. Prior to the redesign, the course met twice a week for 75 minutes. As part of the redesign, the two weekly lecture sessions were reduced to 50 minutes each. Additionally, students were assigned to one of three sections that met separately once a week for a 50-minute recitation session in which they applied course concepts to cases, problems, and situations. Data from the two years before the redesign and two years after it were assessed. Results. Students' average course grade increased 2.5% after the redesign. Average ratings of the course and instructor on student evaluations each increased significantly (around 0.3 points on a 5-point scale). Conclusion. Student knowledge and performance in a pharmacology course increased when a portion of the time previously devoted to lecture was replaced with an active-learning session. This experience can serve as a blueprint for how to convert a lecture-only course into a hybrid lecture and recitation model.