Critical Thinking Engagement and Assessment in Didactic Pharmacy Education: A Scoping Review

The development of critical thinking skills is vital in pharmacy curricula to meet the dynamic needs of the profession. Incorporation of artificial intelligence into practice further compounds the urgency for proficiency with this skill. This scoping review aims to investigate the literature in didactic pharmacy education for teaching and assessing critical thinking.

A comprehensive search was conducted using Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), and PubMed. Full-text articles were included if they were published between January 2000 and February 2025, involved critical thinking teaching or assessment in didactic courses in United States or Canadian pharmacy schools, and were available in English. Results were reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). There were 89 studies that met the inclusion criteria, most of which were cohort studies. All content areas were represented, with a majority of studies involving clinical sciences. A wide variety of teaching and assessment methods were used. Few studies reported a longitudinal approach.

Critical thinking plays a vital role in training for pharmacists. This review revealed a need for better teaching and assessment methods that could be adopted across the Academy. Further research is needed to identify best practices for ensuring graduates are proficient in this skill.