Design and implementation of a program wide pharmaceutical compounding curriculum using the scaffold learning...

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Curriculum Development
• Pedagogical Approaches

Background:

• Traditional pharmaceutical compounding education often uses compartmentalized course designs.
• A need exists for a more integrated and progressive approach to developing compounding expertise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a program-wide scaffold learning curriculum for pharmaceutical compounding.
• To assess the impact of a multi-course, vertically integrated approach over four years.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a five-module pharmaceutical compounding curriculum using scaffold learning.
• Adopted a programmatic, multi-course design spanning all four years of a pharmacy degree program.
• Compared outcomes before (2012-2014) and after (2015-2019) the intervention.

Main Results:

• Course failure rates in pharmaceutical compounding decreased significantly from 34% to 1.5%.
• The percentage of students achieving distinction or higher increased four-fold, from 20% to 80%.
• The scaffold learning approach demonstrated superior effectiveness in skill development.

Conclusions:

• A program-wide scaffold learning approach enhances pharmaceutical compounding skill development more effectively than isolated modules.
• Vertical integration of compounding education across the curriculum leads to improved student outcomes.
• This model offers a successful strategy for improving pharmaceutical compounding education.