Setting priorities for physical examination in pharmacy education: A Delphi study

As the scope of pharmacy practice is expanding, a growing number of pharmacists perform physical examination (PE) to gather additional information to monitor the effectiveness and safety of their patients' therapy. This professional activity calls for the development of comprehensive and valuable PE training. We sought to determine by consensus which PE tests should be given teaching priority in pharmacy education.

Using existing PE literature in pharmacy, we conducted an online Delphi survey from December 2021 to April 2022 with 16 pharmacists who practise in a variety of settings and/or who are considered experts in PE.

After 2 Delphi rounds, consensus was reached to either include or exclude 27 PE tests in entry-to-practice programs. One last round allowed prioritizing the agreed-upon PE tests in terms of educational needs. Clinicians agreed that measuring blood pressure is indispensable and should be given teaching priority, followed by pulse rate, weight and blood glucose measurements. Endocrine system and head and neck examinations should be included in pharmacy programs, but their clinical usefulness was considered less important.

We compared our results with PE literature in other health care disciplines. We found that only a few PE tests truly influence drug therapy management, that some examinations can be quite difficult to perform accurately and that without proper training and opportunities to retrain, skill decay can lead to dangerous misinterpretations. Pharmacy programs should consider focusing on teaching PE tests supported by evidence as having an impact on drug therapy management. Can Pharm J (Ott) 2024;157:xx-xx.