A novel use of photovoice methodology in a leadership APPE and pharmacy leadership elective

The purpose of this article is to describe and assess the effectiveness of an innovative teaching approach in an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) and leadership elective.

Three cohorts of students [(2014: n = 14), (2015: n = 17), (2016: n = 19)] were introduced to the photovoice (PV) method in their leadership APPE. PV required students to take, present, and discuss photographs within their cohorts. PV was used as a teaching method with the intention that the process would compel students to be involved in leadership development throughout experiential rotations, participate in discussions related to leadership development, and engage in creative activity. Group discussions from the class of 2014 were recorded and transcribed. Students from all cohorts were asked to participate in an electronic survey containing items based on PV learning objectives. All students were asked to participate in semi-structured interviews about PV.

The inductive coding method was used to identify themes from discussion transcripts. Analysis of themes revealed 51.5% of the PV photographs related to emotional intelligence. Development of others and strong teams were themes represented in 44.3% of photographs. Survey data indicated all respondents agreed PV was a valuable method to describe learning in leadership. Interview coding revealed themes related to emotional intelligence and development of teams.

The PV method was an effective teaching tool in a leadership APPE and elective course. PV is a teaching method to be utilized in a variety of experiential learning environments to better enhance the professional development of pharmacy students.