Pharmacy student reflections and perceptions of competency and predictors of success in remediation

Pharmacy programs employ a variety of remediation methods intended to bring underperforming students to a level of competency. Our objective was to evaluate pharmacy students' perceptions of eligibility criteria and academic outcomes of remediation and potential predictors for lack of success in the original and remediated course.

Palm Beach Atlantic University School of Pharmacy revised its remediation policy in fall 2017, shifting from a course-centric to student-centric policy. Pharmacy students (N = 265) were surveyed in spring 2019 regarding eligibility criteria and academic outcomes of remediation. Enrolled students who remediated under the revised policy were surveyed on the lack of success in the original course and the remediation process.

Students viewed remediation as an opportunity to prevent delayed graduation. They agreed with the revised, student-centric eligibility criteria and with the new approach allowing all courses to be remediated. First-year students provided lower scores, whereas students who never failed a course gave higher scores. Students agreed that remediation produces proficient students who are as competent as those who passed the original course. The main reason for failing the original course was lack of study time. Students who failed remediation tended to spend more time on external activities and used less remediation resources.

A student-centric approach to remediation with active involvement from students and faculty support was successful in producing students who are viewed just as proficient and competent as students who passed the original course. Predictors for success were study time and the use of remediation resources.