Methods for Optimizing Student Pharmacist Learning of Clinical Note Writing.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Clinical Skills Training
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Effective clinical note writing is crucial for patient care and communication in pharmacy.
• Traditional teaching methods may not fully equip students with practical application skills.
• Problem-solving and worked examples are pedagogical strategies with potential benefits for clinical skills acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of problem-solving versus additional worked examples in teaching clinical note writing to pharmacy students.
• To evaluate the impact of these methods on knowledge acquisition and skill transfer.

Main Methods:

• First-year pharmacy students received an initial worked example on clinical note writing.
• Participants were randomized to either a second worked example (WE-WE) or problem-solving practice (WE-PS).
• Problem variability (similar or different disease states) was incorporated into the learning conditions.

Main Results:

• The problem-solving group (WE-PS) demonstrated superior performance in writing clinical notes compared to the WE-WE group.
• No significant differences were observed in quiz performance, indicating similar knowledge acquisition between the groups.
• Both methods enhanced basic knowledge, but only problem-solving improved the application of these skills.

Conclusions:

• Problem-solving practice is more effective than studying multiple worked examples for developing practical clinical note-writing skills in student pharmacists.
• While both approaches build foundational knowledge, problem-solving better facilitates the application of that knowledge.
• Further research is needed to understand the influence of these methods on complex clinical decision-making in note writing.