Pharmacy students' perceptions of clinical reasoning development through a foundational thinking application...

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Clinical Reasoning
• Foundational Sciences

Background:

• Pharmacy students require integration of foundational and clinical sciences for effective therapeutic decision-making.
• Novice learners in pharmacy education need developmental frameworks and scaffolding tools to bridge foundational knowledge with clinical reasoning.
• This study addresses the need for improved integration of scientific knowledge and clinical application in pharmacy curricula.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development of a framework designed to integrate foundational knowledge and clinical reasoning in second-year pharmacy students.
• To evaluate student perceptions of this novel educational framework.
• To provide a model for enhancing clinical reasoning skills in pharmacy education.

Main Methods:

• A Foundational Thinking Application Framework (FTAF), based on script theory, was developed for a Pharmacotherapy of Nervous Systems Disorders course.
• The framework included a unit plan and a pharmacologically based therapeutic evaluation.
• A 15-question online survey assessed student perceptions of the FTAF's components.

Main Results:

• 95% of surveyed students found the unit plan a useful course organizer.
• 80% agreed the unit plan helped organize instructional material.
• 82% preferred the therapeutic evaluation format, citing its utility for clinical experience and critical thinking development.

Conclusions:

• Students reported positive perceptions of the Foundational Thinking Application Framework (FTAF) implementation.
• Script-based strategies can be successfully adapted in pharmacy education to enhance learning.
• The FTAF demonstrates a viable approach to improving the integration of foundational science and clinical reasoning in pharmacy students.