Reshaping Decision-Making Through Evidence-Based Medicine Content Alignment With Pharmacotherapy.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Clinical Pharmacy
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• Clinical reasoning and therapeutic decision-making are essential skills for pharmacists.
• Integrating evidence-based medicine (EBM) into pharmacotherapy (PTX) courses can enhance student learning and clinical practice.
• This study evaluated the impact of EBM-PTX alignment on student performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of aligning EBM and PTX courses on student performance.
• To assess the effect of this alignment on clinical decision-making, confidence, and satisfaction.
• To compare student outcomes before and after the EBM-PTX alignment implementation.

Main Methods:

• Implemented EBM-PTX alignment at a pharmacy school, increasing aligned topics and landmark trials over two years.
• Assessed EBM skills through quizzes and discussed trial articles during lectures.
• Evaluated clinical decision-making via exam responses and surveyed student confidence and satisfaction.

Main Results:

• Students in the aligned program scored significantly higher in pharmacotherapy cases (78.1% vs. 60.3%) and drug therapy rationale.
• Performance was notably stronger in core topics like diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia (82.4% vs. 60.5%).
• Students demonstrated increased referencing of guidelines and primary literature (51.5% vs. 43.3%), with improved understanding and comfort with EBM.

Conclusions:

• Two years of EBM-PTX content alignment demonstrated sustained improvements in exam performance and clinical decision-making.
• The alignment approach enhanced student confidence and satisfaction with their understanding and application of EBM.
• Results support the continued and expanded use of EBM-PTX content alignment in pharmacy education.