Pharmacy Student Satisfaction and Perceptions Following a Virtual Sterile Compounding Experience

Sterile compounding education is an essential curricular component across pharmacy schools. A virtual sterile intravenous compounding experience was implemented in place of traditional in-person delivery within the patient care lab course at one college of pharmacy. The objective of this manuscript is to describe student perceptions regarding student preparedness, satisfaction, and preferences after the virtual intravenous sterile compounding experience. Students reviewed a pre-recorded lecture and readings which covered sterile compounding fundamentals. Prior to the class session, students were provided with a kit that included simulated intravenous products. Each class session included approximately 33 students and three instructors via online video conferencing. The class session began with a large-group discussion to clarify questions following review of the videos and readings. Then, the class was divided into three breakout rooms with up to 11 students and one instructor. The instructor led the small group through stepwise sterile compounding procedures and provided feedback to the students. Students then completed an online multiple-choice quiz. A survey assessing student perceptions including preparedness, satisfaction, and preferences regarding the virtual experience was disseminated to students. A Mann-Whitney U analysis was performed to compare the ordinal data. A P-value of 0.05 was used to determine significance. Seventy-two (75%) second-year students and 32 (33.3%) third-year students completed the survey yielding an overall response rate of 54%. The majority of students (66%) reported satisfaction with the virtual compounding experience compared with in-person compounding experience. Fifty-seven percent of students felt the virtual experience prepared them for clinical rotation sterile compounding experiences. Overall, students indicated satisfaction with a virtual intravenous compounding experience.