Communication and relationship building in pharmacy education: Experiences from a student-patient buddy project

In order to deliver patient-centred pharmaceutical care, pharmacy students need to develop the appropriate competences and skills. During their regular study program, they have limited long-term patient contact. We therefore implemented a student-patient buddy project to give students opportunity to practice and learn from the patient contact.

A student-patient buddy project was implemented in a 10-week first-year master experiential learning course, including a community pharmacy internship. The pharmacist paired the student with a community-dwelling patient. Student learning activities included: (1) three meetings at the university to prepare and discuss buddy contact moments, (2) three buddy contact moments, (3) discussion with the internship providing pharmacist, and (4) a written reflection report.

In total, 66 students participated from April to June 2021. Most students found patient contact fun and a useful learning experience. Students mentioned that patients were very open and there was opportunity to build a relationship. The first conversation was experienced as exciting and sometimes difficult. Understanding the person was perceived as important. Internship pharmacists were positive about the project and saw learning benefits for students, as well as added value for the pharmacy, mainly because patients seemed to appreciate the contact.

A student-patient buddy project is a good way to expand the limited long-term "real" patient care experiences of pharmacy students. This enables them to practice communication and building relationships with patients.