Pharmacy undergraduate programs: Development of an adaptive curriculum for student success

Objectives

Applicants for graduate work in Pharmacy on paper appear competitive, but upon entering a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program many students struggle with course work, course load, and pharmacologic topics in their first-year studies. In addition to math and science, undergraduate candidates need to have skills that enable them to be adaptable and creative learners. The Pharmacy Undergraduate Program (PUP) at the University of Southern California (USC) has been attentive to these educational needs. In this manuscript we will show how our program has been successful in generating well-prepared and successful candidates for graduate programs (pharmaceutical, clinical, medical, and other) and employment in pharmaceutical fields.

Methods

A review of current student enrollments (N = 121), graduated student annual survey data (N = 50), student research data (N = 68), and ongoing course surveys have been used to detail information related to PUP.

Results

Students who have graduated from PUP have been successful post-graduation. Graduates of PUP have gone on to PharmD programs 44% (22/50); medical school 16% (8/50); PhD programs 24% (12/50); full-time employment 6% (3/50); internship/volunteer positions 10% (5/50); taken a gap year 4% (2/50); and MS/MA program 2% (1/50).

Conclusions

PUP has been successful in helping the admission of our students into graduate degree programs related to pharmaceutical sciences and medicine. This success can be attributed to the dynamic nature of the course offerings and the creativity of the teaching faculty, which leads to students being well-prepared to tackle the rigors of their graduate studies after leaving the program.

Person-centered care content in medicine, occupational therapy, nursing, and physiotherapy education programs

BACKGROUND

Although person-centered care (PCC) ensures high-quality care for patients, studies have shown that it is unevenly applied in clinical practice. The extent to which future health care providers are currently offered education in PCC at their universities is unclear. We aimed to clarify the PCC content offered to students as a basis for their understanding by exploring the PCC content of Swedish national study programs in medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy.

METHODS

Using a qualitative document analysis design, we sampled the steering documents from all higher education institutions (n = 48) with accreditation in medicine (n = 7), nursing (n = 25), occupational therapy (n = 8), or physiotherapy (n = 8) at a single time point. All national study programs (n = 4), local program syllabuses (n = 48), and local course syllabuses (n = 799) were reviewed using a 10-item protocol.

RESULTS

We found no content related to PCC in the steering documents at the national level. At the local level, however, signs of PCC were identified in local program syllabuses and local course syllabuses. Seven of the 48 local program syllabuses (15%) included PCC in their intended learning outcomes. Eight of the 799 local course syllabuses (1%) contained course titles that included the phrase 'person-centered care,' and another 101 listed 142 intended learning outcomes referring to PCC. A total of 21 terms connected to PCC were found, and the term 'person-centered care' was most commonly used in the nursing programs and least commonly in the medical programs.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a broad range in how the national study programs in Sweden have incorporated PCC. The implementation has been driven by a bottom-up strategy. A deliberate and standardized strategy is needed to ensure full implementation of PCC into clinical curricula in higher education.