Integrating a digital health educational activity into a required didactic course: Reflections and lessons learned

Evidence on how to best build competency in digital health technologies (DHTs) within pharmacy education is scarce. This manuscript aims to describe and reflect on the development and implementation of a self-directed learning digital health activity into the required pharmacy course.

Eighteen DHTs topics were assigned to teams of students. Teams researched the technology, delivered an oral presentation to peers, engaged peers in interactive activities, and participated in a faculty-led large group debrief. Faculty utilized a rubric to assess student performance. Students completed a peer evaluation using the same rubric in addition to a teamwork assessment. Student learning was captured through responses to an open-ended question on a student evaluation form.

Sixty students participated in the digital health self-directed learning activity. The mean grade on the activity was 91.5. All students addressed presentation objectives, provided balanced presentation material with appropriate critique of the literature and utilized appropriate resources. The lowest performing areas were communication skills (73.33 %) and audience engagement (68.33 %). Thematic analysis of free text responses demonstrated that this activity increased student awareness of DHTs availability, functionality, potential for student engagement, and potential impact of DHTs on health and patient care.

Topic presentations utilizing self-directed pedagogy provides one strategy to introduce students to a variety of DHTs within a required pharmacy course.