Evaluation of affective domain elements in a new pharmacy practice course

In 2016, new Accreditation Standards were implemented that required integration of affective domain elements (ADEs) into the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum and admissions interview process. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between admissions variables and performance in a new course, and to analyze the relationship between student self-assessment and faculty evaluation of their development and performance in ADEs.

Pre-pharmacy admission variables were evaluated for correlations with student performance in ADEs. Student self-assessments and faculty evaluations of performance in ADEs were also analyzed.

Statistically significant positive correlations were found between student age and completion of at least a bachelor's degree with student self-assessment in communication and leadership. When evaluating faculty assessment, significant positive correlations were found for female performance in the areas of leadership and team readiness. There was a positive association between the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) quantitative score and performance in professionalism; while negative associations were seen between the PCAT comprehensive score and student self-assessment in self-awareness and professionalism, and between the PCAT quantitative score and student self-assessment in self-awareness (p < 0.05 for all). Median evaluation ranks by faculty members were significantly lower than the median self-evaluation ranks done by students.

This study suggests careful analysis of admissions variables in relation to ADEs may offer PharmD programs insight into how they design educational activities related to the affective domain. Additionally, evaluating multiple observations by both students and faculty members may identify patterns of growth and development in ADEs.