Increasing access to the profession: Admissions lessons learned from the pandemic.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Admissions Processes
• Health Professions

Background:

• COVID-19 pandemic necessitated rapid changes in pharmacy school admissions.
• Pre-existing considerations included test-optional policies and remote interviews.
• The pandemic accelerated the adoption of fully remote recruitment and admissions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of pandemic-induced changes on pharmacy school admissions.
• To identify barriers and challenges for prospective pharmacy students.
• To assess the effectiveness of test-optional admissions and remote interviews.

Main Methods:

• Transitioned to test-optional admissions and remote interviews for the 2020-2021 cycle.
• Collected admissions data from the Pharmacy College Application Service.
• Utilized descriptive statistics for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Total completed applications surged by 59.1% compared to the previous year.
• Applications increased from underrepresented students (9.8%), those with bachelor's degrees (6.2%), and out-of-state students (8.4%).
• Key metrics like GPA and Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT) scores remained stable.

Conclusions:

• The pandemic experience reinforced the need for continuous adaptation in admissions.
• Embracing changes like test-optional policies can reduce barriers and improve access to pharmacy education.
• These adaptations hold potential for closing gaps in health professions education access.