An International Perspective on Pharmacy Student Selection Policies and Processes

A Student's Nontraditional Path to Pharmacy School

Although professional pharmacy programs tend to require and focus heavily on applicants' grade point averages and pre-admission test scores, there is noted value in the matriculation of students exhibiting strong leadership and soft skills. Such attributes are advantageous to a pharmacist, particularly when considering the current need to develop trailblazers prepared to adapt to the ever-changing demands of our healthcare system. Pharmacy school applications and enrollments have been declining across the nation for the past decade. Pharmacy job prospects, particularly in community pharmacies, are projected to decline over the next decade, but inpatient and clinical roles are projected to increase in demand. To accommodate this role shift, schools may consider engaging with and recruiting students with unique skill sets from less traditional backgrounds. This commentary explores one student's pharmacy school experience via the lens of a nontraditional background and postulates that pharmacy schools may benefit from altering their admissions approach.

Evaluation of a Situational Judgement Test to Develop Non-Academic Skills in Pharmacy Students

Objective. To design, implement, and psychometrically evaluate a situational judgement test (SJT) to use as a formative assessment of pharmacy students' non-academic skills in an Australian-based university. Methods. An SJT was developed using a previously validated design process including involvement of subject matter experts. The first phase included design of a blueprint through stakeholder consultation and the development of bespoke attribute definitions and a tool specification. Following on from this, SJT items were developed through subject matter expert interviews and in-depth review process. Results. Students (702) from four different cohorts (first through fourth years) of a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree program completed the situational judgment test. Data from 648 students was eligible for inclusion in the analysis. The SJT demonstrated good reliability, appropriateness for use (difficulty and quality), fairness, and face validity. The variability in students' scores suggested that the SJT may be a useful metric to identify students most in need of additional support. Conclusion. Evaluation of the SJT demonstrated that the tool was valid, reliable, fair and appropriate to use as a formative assessment. Through implementing an SJT such as this, pharmacy students are provided the opportunity to receive feedback on their non-academic skills and consider how to approach challenging or unfamiliar situations before entering the profession.

Becoming more holistic: A literature review of nonacademic factors in the admissions process of colleges and schools of pharmacy and other health professions

BACKGROUND

The expanding role of pharmacists has influenced admissions committees to consider nonacademic factors other than grade point average (GPA) and test scores and has focused more attention on holistic admissions.

METHODS

Database searches were conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, and PsychINFO using keywords, "holistic admissions", "holistic review", and "pharmacy admissions" plus "critical thinking skills", "extracurricular", "communication skills", "essay", or "interview". Overall, 64 studies were identified, 17 were excluded, and ultimately, 47 were reviewed.

RESULTS

Holistic admissions is not an industry standard in pharmacy but more so in other health professions. For critical thinking skills, the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) was not a good predictor of academic performance even though it was effective in ranking admission applicants. The California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) however, was a significant predictor for clerkship and practice-related courses. It is unclear whether pharmacy admissions committees are utilizing the Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT) reading and writing scores, the interview, or other measures to evaluate communication skills. The Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) is an effective assessment tool for measuring noncognitive attributes; however, the efficacy of unstructured interviews in evaluating noncognitive skills was less clear.

IMPLICATIONS

Academic measures alone are not nuanced enough to predict success throughout the entire curriculum. An integration of factors, both academic and nonacademic, would be more relevant to predict success. Critical thinking skills and extracurricular experiences may be more significant for admissions selection and admissions ranking respectively, and more predictive of academic success during didactic and experiential stages of the curriculum respectively.

Preadmission predictors of academic performance in a pharmacy program: A longitudinal, multi-cohort study

INTRODUCTION

This study examined the extent to which a preadmission health science program and demographic variables predicted academic performance throughout an undergraduate pharmacy degree (BPharm) program.

METHODS

A longitudinal, multi-cohort study was undertaken of 557 students admitted to the University of Otago School of Pharmacy BPharm program between 2008 and 2012, from a preceding health science year (HSFY). Preadmission baseline data including health science grade point average (GPA), sex, age, ethnicity, residency status, and high school qualifications were matched against outputs of GPA performances in all three years of the BPharm program using regression analyses.

RESULTS

Five hundred thirty-eight students (96.6%) completed their BPharm degree. The regression models were significantly predictive of performance in the BPharm program with 57%, 43% and 38% of variances explained for GPA performance across years two, three and four, respectively (p < 0.001). Demographic variables including being male, being from certain minority ethnic groups or not having a specific domestic high school qualification were associated with lower GPA performances across the BPharm program compared to reference groups.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Determining admission from performance rankings as the single selection tool holds reasonable predictive value early in progression, however additional measures may be warranted to better predict performances extending beyond the first year of the BPharm program.