Pharmacy resident teaching and learning curriculum program outcomes: Student performance and quality assessment

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy education
• Medical training
• Health professions education

Background:

• Postgraduate pharmacy residents play a role in educating students.
• The quality of educational materials developed by residents can impact student learning.
• Assessing resident teaching effectiveness and material quality is crucial for curriculum improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate student performance in courses taught by pharmacy residents.
• To assess the quality of learning objectives and multiple-choice questions (MCQs) created by residents.
• To understand the educational impact of resident instructors on student achievement.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort design analyzing data from 2010-2012.
• Student performance measured via individual readiness assurance tests (iRATs), team readiness assurance tests (tRATs), and course examinations.
• Learning objectives and MCQs evaluated against author-established quality criteria by two independent reviewers.

Main Results:

• Significant statistical differences in student performance across content areas and years for iRAT, tRAT, and exam scores (p < 0.05), except for one examination.
• 42% of learning objectives and 79% of multiple-choice questions met all quality criteria.
• Overall student performance impact by resident instructors was not educationally significant despite content-specific variations.

Conclusions:

• Student performance varies based on course content, but resident instructors' overall impact on student achievement is not educationally significant.
• Pharmacy residency programs should enhance training for residents on developing high-quality learning objectives.
• Curriculum development should prioritize equipping residents with skills to create effective learning tools that guide students toward essential content.