Core competencies in pharmaceutical education: a Chinese student perspective

From the students' perspective, the research evaluates their views on core competencies and their own developmental needs within pharmaceutical education, attempting to explore potential pathways for optimizing students' core competencies. This study seeks to enhance students' core competencies, enrich learning and development theories, and establish a basis and reference for cultivating high-caliber pharmaceutical talents.

Establishing a core competency index system for pharmacy major, a survey questionnaire comprising 41 items across four dimensions (knowledge, skills, abilities, and values) was designed. Using stratified cluster sampling, 919 valid responses were collected. Descriptive statistics, variance analysis, and chi-square test were used to analyze the perceptions of pharmaceutical students on core competencies' importance for professional growth and their satisfaction with teaching, and to examine disparities in the development of core competencies among different groups of students.

The study revealed deficiencies in pharmaceutical students' core competencies regarding artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical application, medical care, etc. Differential analysis indicated that significant differences across education levels: undergraduates prioritized foundational knowledge and ethical norms, while postgraduates emphasized project-based learning and ability improvement. Students with work or project experience placed higher value on knowledge application, systematic thinking, strategic capabilities, and innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence.

This study evaluates pharmaceutical core competency education from the student perspective, revealing their perceptions of developmental requirements. The research proposes an optimization pathway: the curriculum reform of pharmaceutical higher education should be scientific, general, innovative, practical and humanistic, thereby providing a reference for reforming pharmaceutical higher education.