Assessing the Effectiveness of an Evidence-based Practice Pharmacology Course Using the Fresno Test

Objective. To assess the effectiveness of an evidence-based practice (EBP) pharmacology elective course to teach EBP skills using the Fresno Test (FT). Methods. Pharmacy faculty members and medical librarians developed the elective course and offered it to two cohorts of doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students. A pre/post intervention study design was used. Seven of 12 FT items were chosen to measure specific EBP skills: Ask, Access, Appraise and Apply. Pre/postcomposite and FT item mean scores were compared using Student's t test with p<0.05 set as significant a priori. Results. Composite FT mean scores increased significantly for both cohorts. Mean scores for both cohorts increased significantly in four of the seven FT items but on different FT items. Conclusion. As a profession that commonly uses evidence-based guidelines, developing and integrating an EBP course in the PharmD curriculum is worth considering.