Course Development and Integration of a Skills-Based Assessment for an Elective Palliative Care Course.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Palliative Care
• Interdisciplinary Healthcare

Background:

• Palliative care education is crucial for healthcare professionals.
• Existing curricula may not adequately prepare student pharmacists for palliative care.
• There is a need for effective methods to assess palliative care skills in students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and pilot a palliative care elective course for third professional year (P3) student pharmacists.
• To assess the impact of this elective on student pharmacists' attitudes and skills in palliative care.
• To utilize skills-based assessment methods and course evaluations for impact assessment.

Main Methods:

• A 15-week semester-long palliative care elective was implemented.
• The course was delivered by an interdisciplinary team of palliative care clinicians.
• Student pharmacists were evaluated using pre/post standardized patient assessments and course evaluations.

Main Results:

• Twenty-two P3 student pharmacists participated in the elective.
• Skills-based assessments showed significant improvement in patient assessment, pharmacologic recommendations, communication, and documentation.
• Content analysis of evaluations revealed themes of gained knowledge in generalist and specialist palliative care.

Conclusions:

• Skills-based assessment provides an objective measure of palliative care skill development in student pharmacists.
• The piloted palliative care elective course successfully enhanced student pharmacists' attitudes and skills.
• This educational model can be a valuable tool for improving palliative care competency in future pharmacists.