Vancomycin Flight Simulator: A Team-Based Learning Exercise

Team-based learning (TBL) encourages learners to think critically to solve problems they will face in practice. Pharmacokinetic dosing and monitoring are complex skills requiring the application of learned knowledge. The study sought to assess the impact of a TBL, vancomycin dosing activity in a Pharmaceutical Skills IV course measured with exam question performance during the second professional year.

This retrospective, descriptive study relates a TBL activity, assigned to 85 students, which included an individual student pre-preparation quiz, assigned readings, in-class individual and team-based readiness assessments, small group application of a vancomycin patient case, and group discussion/feedback on clinical decisions with supportive reasoning. The class year before and class year of the TBL implementation were compared using the total percentage of points possible earned by the class years, by topic. To minimize potential confounding, the primary outcome was the change in topic performance by the rank difficulty (e.g., the largest possible benefit being the hardest topic becoming the easiest with no other variation in topic rank difficulty).

In the year of implementation, the mean individual readiness assurance test (IRAT) performance was 5.5 ± 1.88 (10 points possible, 55%). The mean team readiness assurance test (TRAT) performance was 10 of 10 points possible (100%). The class exam item performance in the year before (n = 101) and year of (n = 84) TBL implementation showed a general decline in exam scores. However, the vancomycin topic difficultly went from fifth easiest, to second easiest, with less than 1% change in raw score.

Implementation of a pharmacokinetic TBL activity appeared to moderately support the students' vancomycin learning. Additional studies are warranted on APPE readiness and performance.