A Call to Action for Cultural Humility in Pharmacy Education Student Assessments

An important topic in the conversation on the education of pharmacy students evolves around methods of pedagogy and assessment and attention to diversity and inclusion. Well-intentioned educators may introduce bias into their teachings and assessment tools by focusing on diseases with a higher rate of presentation in minorities without engaging in conversations about why these health disparities exist. When considering the content and structure of a curriculum, it is also important to review its assessment tools, with attention to cultural humility in multiple-choice examinations, case-based presentations, and even observed structured clinical examinations. Disregarding this component of the conversation may lead students to have an unconscious impression that social constructs are biological markers for a disease. Students may recall not only what they learned in a classroom setting, but often the content included in their assessments as well. By writing test items that are culturally responsible, unconscious bias can be reduced and test items can better measure the knowledge that educators intend to assess. As pharmacy educators perform programmatic reviews, attention should be directed toward unconscious bias, not only in the curricula but also in evaluation and assessment tools.