A longitudinal evaluation of retention of pharmacy law knowledge by pharmacy students

Pharmacy law knowledge is an important component of a pharmacy student's education, guiding future pharmacists on regulatory frameworks for pharmacy practice. However, limited research exists regarding longitudinal retention of pharmacy law knowledge. The objective of this study was to assess the short-term and long-term retention of pharmacy law knowledge for a single cohort of pharmacy students by comparing individual performance across three law-focused assessments.

Percent change in individual student performance was tracked across three specific assessments. The change between the first two assessments (P2 didactic course and P3 summer IPPE) assessed short-term retention, and the change between the first and third (P4 Community Pharmacy APPE) assessed long-term retention. Assessment results were converted to percentages to allow for direct comparisons given diversity of assessment structure.

63 of 65 (96.9 %) of students completed all three assessments. Knowledge of pharmacy law was maintained from Assessment 1 to Assessment 2 and from Assessment 1 to Assessment 3. Student scores indicated a slight increase in short-term knowledge (average + 8 %, range -34 % to +38 %, p = 0.00016) and a slight decrease in long-term knowledge (average -6 %, range -34 % to +18 %, p = 0.000047).

Assessing pharmacy law knowledge scores at multiple points in the curriculum provided an analysis of short-term and long-term knowledge retention. While short-term knowledge of law was retained, long-term knowledge showed deterioration, but not to the extent expected. This may be due to the modified spaced repetition of pharmacy law assessments, blunting the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve effect or students exhibiting a testing effect. However, law touch points, such as incorporating a regulatory assessment into care plans, throughout the curriculum may be beneficial to overall law knowledge retention.