Knowledge Gain of Pharmacy Students and Pharmacists Comparing Simulation Versus Traditional Learning Methodology

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the difference between education via written materials alone and written materials enhanced with hands-on simulation. METHODS: A simulation case, educational module, and assessment regarding torsades de pointes (TdP) in an adolescent patient were designed. The written educational module was given to all study participants. A total of 92 third-year pharmacy students and 26 pharmacists participated in the study. RESULTS: When approximately half of the participants had been to simulation, an anonymous assessment was given. Responses from those who had been to simulation and those who had not, and whether they had read, skimmed or not read the educational material were compared. A non-paired Student t-test compared the percentage correct and responses of individual questions between groups. Mean participant scores of those who went to simulation (70% ± 16%) were statistically significantly higher than mean scores of those who had not attended simulation (54% ± 21%; p<0.0001). Furthermore, those who attended simulation and read the module (72% ± 3%), skimmed (68% ± 13%), or did not read the module (66% ± 16%) had higher scores than those who did not attend simulation and read the module (62% ± 26%), skimmed the module (54 ± 17%) or did not read the module (51% ± 20%). CONCLUSIONS: Hands-on simulation significantly improved assessment scores. Overall, reading the educational module and participating in simulation yielded the best scores. Participants who attended the simulation and did not read the module had higher average scores than participants who read the educational module and did not go to simulation.