Factors associated with pharmacotherapy course learning achievements in Thai pharmacy students

The doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program is designed for direct patient care experiences. To prepare pharmacy students to have adequate clinical knowledge and skills, pharmacotherapy is a vital course. Due to the difficulties of courses, several students had unsuccessful learning achievements and insufficient clinical skills. The objective was to explore factors associated with pharmacotherapy course learning achievements in pharmacy students.

A cross sectional survey was designed and undertaken in 2020. Pharmacy students who enrolled at least one pharmacotherapy course were included. A 39-item questionnaire was developed and distributed electronically. Content validity and reliability tests (Cronbach's α = 0.928) were performed. Descriptive statistics and univariate and logistic regression were used in this study.

The results indicated that four factors were found to be associated with higher grade point average: participation in a study group (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.47, 95% CI 0.23-0.97) for Pharmacotherapy I; self-assessed success for Pharmacotherapy II and Advanced Pharmacotherapy (adjusted OR 2.67, 95% CI 1.19-6.01 and adjusted OR 3.45, 95% CI 1.03-11.59, respectively); using social media in the classroom (adjusted OR 12.16, 95% CI 2.03-72.72); and motivation by advisors (adjusted OR 640.74, 95% CI 2.03-201,675.55) for Pharmacotherapy III. Moreover, reviewing material after class (adjusted OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.10-0.71) and using social media in the classroom (adjusted OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.01-4.07) revealed the association with cumulative grade point average.

There were various factors associated with pharmacotherapy learning achievements. These included factors from learners, instructors, and environment.