A high-fidelity simulation mannequin to introduce pharmacy students to advanced cardiovascular life support

To design and implement an advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) workshop featuring a human patient simulator (HPS) for third-year pharmacy students.

The ACLS workshop consisted of a pre-session lecture, a calculation exercise, and a 40-minute ACLS session using an HPS. Twenty-four 5-member teams of students were assigned roles on a code team and participated in a ventricular fibrillation/pulseless ventricular tachycardia case.

Students completed an anonymous postactivity survey instrument and knowledge quiz. Most students who completed the ACLS workshop agreed they would like to participate in additional simulation activities and that the HPS experience enhanced their understanding of ACLS and the pharmacist responsibilities during an ACLS event (99.2% and 98.3%, respectively). However, the median score on the knowledge-based questions was 25%.

Pharmacy students agreed HPS enhanced their learning experience; however, their retention of the knowledge learned was not consistent with the perceived benefits of HPS to education.