Environmental scan of the patient voice in Canadian E2P PharmD programs

There has been an increasing interest in embedding patients' voices in the education of healthcare professionals. The purpose of this study was to conduct an environmental scan of entry to practice doctor of pharmacy (E2P PharmD) programs in Canada to determine to what extent pharmacy educators in Canada incorporate real patient voices in course delivery.

A web-based survey was distributed to an estimated total number of 750 pharmacy educators at eight Canadian English-speaking E2P PharmD programs. Respondents answered questions related to their experience incorporating patients' voices into their teaching, the value of patients' voices, and their perceived barriers. Aggregate data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Fifty-three pharmacy educators (7%) responded. Most respondents (93%) agreed that patients' voices are indispensable in pharmacy education, while only 32% reported that they had involved real patient voices in their courses in the past three years. Patient speech or presentation was reported as the most used method to involve real patient voices in their courses (39%), followed by question-and-answer sessions (17%). The top barriers perceived by pharmacy educators for involving real patients were insufficient teaching time (33%) and difficulty in recruiting patients (27%).

Patients' voices were used by one-third of the E2P PharmD educators who participated, though over 90% recognized its value. Where deployed, patients were invited to speak on a variety of topics relevant to their personal experiences. More research is needed to determine what benefits can result from patient voices and how to improve its sustainability.