Perceptions of service learning in pharmacy education: A systematic review

Pharmacy services have evolved to include direct patient care and a greater role within the community. Service learning (SL) is a specific pedagogy that can provide pharmacy students with live patient interaction and foster community engagement. Although SL is recommended by educational standards, it is not clearly known if students or patients recognize the benefits of these activities. The objectives of this review are to assess student and patient perceptions of SL in the literature, evaluate the different approaches to SL, and describe interprofessional education (IPE) within SL.

A literature search was conducted using the Scopus, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ProQuest, Cochrane Review, Academic Search Complete, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar databases. Search terms included "service learning" AND "pharmacy education OR learning" AND "perceptions." Studies were included if they described perceptions of SL in pharmacy education. No timeline restrictions were made.

Fourteen studies were included with SL occurring in didactic, co-curricular, and experiential pharmacy education. Student perceptions were consistently positive and expressed improvements in confidence, knowledge, and abilities. Patient perceptions, when evaluated, were also positive. SL provided a strong and trusting learning environment for IPE.

SL is a beneficial component in all aspects of pharmacy education. Student and patient perceptions suggest that SL can enhance knowledge and improve overall health outcomes. Incorporating IPE into SL offers benefits to all healthcare professional students.