Instituting patient interviewing team simulation assessments into the curriculum

Literature demonstrates that the primary concerns for entry-level graduates relate to standards covering professional competencies and outcome expectations; knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values; and pharmacy practice experiences. Implementing patient interviewing team simulation assessments (PITSA) into the curriculum is an option to address these concerns.

PITSA are formative or summative assessment tools that can measure student's ability to communicate with a healthcare provider in addition to evaluating the student's clinical knowledge and skills during scheduled class time. At the University of Texas at Tyler Fisch College of Pharmacy, PITSA were implemented into an OSCE remediation course as an alternative strategy to allow students to review past content and practice counseling and interviewing techniques.

Students identified the PITSA as a strength of the OSCE remediation course. Students reported the PITSA allowed them to improve their pharmacy practice skills. In addition, students stated the PITSA were beneficial to have prior to starting advanced pharmacy practice experiences.

Although PITSA have some limitations, it can be a cost-effective instrument to prepare students for capstone OSCE assessments as well as advanced pharmacy practice experiences.