Improving Knowledge of Top 200 Medications Through Retrieval Practice, Content Alignment, and Autonomous Learning

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Curriculum Design
• Medical Education

Background:

• Effective learning strategies are crucial for mastering essential medications in pharmacy programs.
• Traditional methods may not optimize knowledge retention for a core set of drugs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a redesigned learning module on the top 200 medications within a Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum.
• To compare student examination performance before and after curriculum revision.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a curriculum revision focusing on repeated retrieval, mastery learning, therapeutic alignment, and autonomous learning for the top 200 medications.
• Administered a high-stakes comprehensive examination to assess student knowledge.
• Compared examination scores between cohorts before and after the redesign.

Main Results:

• The percentage of students achieving a satisfactory score (85%) increased significantly after the curriculum redesign.
• Post-redesign cohorts showed higher pass rates (89.2%) compared to the pre-redesign cohort (65.7%).

Conclusions:

• A holistic redesign incorporating retrieval, mastery, therapeutic alignment, and autonomous learning demonstrably improves student mastery of essential medications.
• This pedagogical approach enhances knowledge retention and academic performance in pharmacy students.