Modifying a Traditional Course for the PharmD Curriculum

To the Editor: We thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Poirier's recent article, “A Seminar Course on Contemporary Pharmacy Issues,” and would like to share our experiences.¹ We at the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy were also faced with the dilemma of modifying a traditional post-baccalaureate doctor of pharmacy seminar course to accommodate not only an increase in student enrollment, but also the addition of a distance campus. The evolution of the degree also necessitated course goal revision to better address future professional practice. To accomplish this, peer review of the seminar course occurred and resulted in a redesigned, year long, 1-credit hour seminar course series launched in the 2006-2007 academic year. Traditionally, the former course consisted of students delivering a 15-20 minute oral presentation on a contemporary pharmacy issue in 1 semester and a patient case poster presentation in the other semester. In our new course offering, we retained the oral presentation component in the spring, known as the Seminar Preparation and Delivery Series, and replaced the poster presentation with a Professional Development Series in the fall. We feel that the addition of the Professional Development Series and the instructional design workshops in the Seminar Preparation and Delivery Series were a novel approach to address concepts and skills that were not necessarily highlighted previously in the curriculum. The new course objectives emphasize that, while not all students become full-time faculty members, effective teaching skills are needed in practice.

The Professional Development Series consisted of ten 2-hour lectures and workshops once a week during the fall semester. Workshop topics included: postgraduate training options, writing resumes and curriculum vitae (separate workshops offered for those pursing postgraduate training or traditional entry-level pharmacy positions), effective interviewing techniques, business etiquette, contract negotiation, and financial planning (2 workshops). In addition, students participated in 2 immunizations workshops (immunization practices and procedures lecture and immunization technique workshop). Once successfully completed, students were eligible to apply for an immunization permit with the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy upon graduation. Overall, this programming was received well by the students and was offered in a similar fashion the following 2 years. Future modifications to this fall series will include an additional presentation requirement to accommodate student requests for additional presentation practice.

The Seminar Preparation and Delivery Series consisted of seven 2-hour workshops offered once a week during the spring semester. The objective of the series is to have the students prepare an in-depth seminar on a controversial, debated, or timely pharmacotherapeutic, pharmacoeconomic, pharmacy administration, or basic science topic related to the profession of pharmacy. Students chose individual topics from a faculty-prepared list or submitted a topic of interest for approval. Initial activities were similar to those utilized by Dr. Poirier and included: presentation skills, creating an effective PowerPoint presentation, writing effective objectives and test questions, preparing quality handouts and giving and receiving feedback. A 1-hour hands-on PowerPoint workshop was also offered. During this time, students began choosing and preparing their seminar topics under the guidance of their seminar group leader. The class was divided into 8 small groups and the semester concluded with 3 (range 2-4) students presenting a 25- to 30-minute lecture with complete lecture objectives followed by questions and answers, for 6 weeks. Students also wrote and administered a multiple-choice test for the audience to complete. Students were graded using a standardized rubric (created by the course coordinators) and received immediate feedback from the 2 faculty group leaders and volunteer faculty observers in attendance, as well as from their peers. All students were encouraged to self-assess their seminar using the rubric prior to their presentation delivery and all faculty group leaders received at least 2 hours of training on rubric use to promote inter-rater reliability. Student feedback was also positive for these activities and many believed it would be useful in their future careers.

By combing these 2 series of programming, we believe that our students are now better prepared to enter the workforce with skills that they may not have attained otherwise.

Jonathan D. Ference, PharmD
Nesbitt College of Pharmacy & Nursing Wilkes University
Melissa S. Medina, EdD
The University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy