Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2025
Project-Based Learning Guidelines for Health Sciences Students: An Analysis with Data Mining and Qualitative Techniques
Published on: December 9, 2022
Exploring Pharmacy Student Experiences with Student Debt and Perspectives on Future Burnout and Loan Relief
Mary Katherine Huffman1, Delaney R McGuirt1, Divya M Patil1
1Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Objective:
Pharmacy students with substantial educational debt are at risk for excessive workloads, burnout, and clinical errors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, policies addressing economic hardships for all student debt borrowers included temporary suspension of monthly payments and 0% interest during the pause. This study aimed to understand student-level factors regarding student debt from the lived experiences of current pharmacy students and aimed to understand how current pharmacy students view temporary loan relief.
Methods:
We used semi-structured interviews of pharmacy students across 4 years of progression in their pharmacy program to better understand student experiences with debt, different factors that may influence the impact of student debt on short-term and long-term outcomes for students, and student perspectives on debt relief policies and potential solutions. Our thematic analysis was grounded in existing evidence and a conceptual framework, while also allowing codes to emerge directly from the data.
Results:
A total of 20 pharmacy students were interviewed with a median student debt of $77,000, with debt amounts ranging from $0 to $209,000. Students described what mediating factors influenced their experiences, the influence of student debt on clinician burnout, and other outcomes impacted by student debt. Six overarching themes emerged relevant to current students: student debt influences education and career decisions, debt is risky given the saturated pharmacy market, debt is an accepted burden, debt will inhibit starting a life, the COVID-19 loan relief is revealing, and early financial education is needed.
Conclusion:
Pharmacy students burdened with debt described a variety of different experiences and attitudes toward that debt and provided their perspectives on how student debt influences short-term education and career decisions. While students accept the trade-off of debt for their education as an inevitable burden, reported coping mechanisms and strategies shared suggest some solutions may be available to ameliorate this burden.
More Related Videos
09:55Bridging the Technology Divide in the COVID-19 Era: Using Virtual Outreach to Expose Middle and High School Students to Imaging Technology
Published on: September 28, 2022
07:32Preparation and Characterization of Individual and Multi-drug Loaded Physically Entrapped Polymeric Micelles
Published on: August 28, 2015
Related Concept Videos
01:15Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
01:28Drug Therapy
Antianxiety Medications
01:29Issues And Trends In Healthcare Delivery System
Cost Containment
Payment for healthcare services has historically promoted adoption of costly and often unnecessary or inefficient...
01:26Drug Administration and Therapy Phases: Overview
The pharmaceutical phase focuses on leveraging the physicochemical properties of the drug to design and manufacture an effective product. Variants include orally administered tablets or capsules, topical creams or ointments, and parenteral-delivery solutions or emulsions.
The pharmacokinetic phase...
01:28Current Trends in Nursing I
01:02Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs
The misuse and addiction to prescription drugs is a growing problem that can affect people of all age groups, specifically teenagers. This can happen when prescription medications are used in ways not intended by the prescriber, such as taking someone else's prescription or using medication for...