A multimodal educational approach to non-practice-based pharmacy careers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46542/pe.2023.231.354361Keywords:
Career pathway, Elective course, Industry pharmacy, SeminarAbstract
Background: Pharmacy students have little exposure to non-practice-based (NPB) careers. However, their education prepares them for a wide array of NBP career opportunities. This work describes a multimodal approach to exposing students to careers in the pharmacy industry.
Methods: This study assessed the impact of a multimodal approach to increasing awareness and understanding of NPB pharmacy careers within the PharmD curriculum. Students were surveyed before and after exposure to an elective course titled Pharmacists Roles in Drug Development (PRDD) that included a Value of Industry Pharmacist (VIP) competition and a seminar series about their knowledge, attitudes, and career interests.
Results: The response rate was 39% (16/41) for students enrolled in the PRDD course and 20% (5/21) for those participating in the VIP competition but not the course. Interest in pursuing a career in industry pharmacy increased significantly after the course (p=0.018) from 39% to 56%. Self-perceived knowledge of careers in industry pharmacy increased significantly (p=0.0003) after the course. Students were extremely likely (50%), somewhat likely (17%), neutral (28%), or extremely unlikely (5%) to recommend the course to a fellow student. Also, the seminar series contributed to significantly increasing knowledge levels (p=0.001), with 20% of students reporting very high or high baseline knowledge that exceeded 60%, indicating very high or high knowledge after the seminar.
Conclusion: In the current study, students showed a significant increase in interest and knowledge levels in industry pharmacy careers after participating in the course and seminar series, indicating that the methods employed in this multimodal approach were effective in educating students on alternative career pathways and piquing their interest in these pathways.
References
Alexander, J. G., Bunkers, L., Dodd, L., Emami, N., Iftikhar, M., Pradhan, V., & Scillufo, F. (2021). Analysis of 2020-2021 PharmD Industry Fellowships (IPhO Annual Fellowship Analysis Archive, p. 15). Industry Pharmacists Organization. https://www.industrypharmacist.org/resources/764d14c3dc93a5d40734c4dcf6c889d6.pdf
Arya, V., Bakken, B. K., Doucette, W. R., Gaither, C. A., Kreling, D. H., Mott, D. A., Schommer, J. C., & Witry, M. J. (2020). National Pharmacist Workforce Studies—Final Report | AACP 2019 (p. 116). American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. https://www.aacp.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/2019_NPWS_Final_Report.pdf
Hartman, R., Blustein, L., Morel, D., & Davis, L. (2014). A pharmaceutical industry elective course on practice experience selection and fellowship pursuit by pharmacy students. American journal of pharmaceutical education, 78(6), 126. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe786126
Industry Pharmacists Organization. (2023). Value of Industry Pharmacists (VIP) Case Competition Backgrounder. Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO). https://www.industrypharmacist.org/resources-sitedocs/vip_case_comp_backgrounder.pdf
Jacob, B., & Peasah, S. K. (2019). An Elective Course for Student Pharmacists on Pharmaceutical Industry Practice. American journal of pharmaceutical education, 83(8), 7037. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7037
Schmitt, M., Boshar, R., Harrison, S., & Silverman, J. (2016). Description of Industry Curriculum within Accredited United States Colleges of Pharmacy [Poster]. IPhO Scholarly Publications and Posters, Industry Pharmacists Organization. https://www.industrypharmacist.org/resources/14be1d679495a38143325a4b48224a07.pdf
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Occupational Outlook Handbook, Pharmacists. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacists.htm
