Background The pharmacy profession is changing towards patient-centred care. To meet the new challenges but also to drive the profession forward it is necessary to provide students with clinical competencies. Clinical courses with teacher practitioners are part of the pharmacy curriculum in countries like the UK or USA and are increasingly being established within Europe.¹

Purpose To systematically evaluate the benefits of clinical teaching in our country: a quasi-randomised teaching and learning study.

Material and methods A clinical teaching course on a psychiatric ward was created for small student groups. Learning aims included: communication, drug histories, drug-related problems and counselling. The control group only participated in the theoretical part while the intervention group took part in the complete course. The effects were assessed by an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and a student questionnaire.

Results The intervention group achieved a significantly better overall result in the OSCE assessment (46.4 ± 9.5 vs. 28.2 ± 9.0 of 90 points; p < 0.001) with the most positive effect in communications skills (27.4 ± 5.4 vs. 16.3 ± 6.0 of 40 points; p < 0.001). The performance in the theoretical tasks was improved but unsatisfactory in both groups considering the maximum score (12.1 ± 4.1 vs. 8.1 ± 3.2 of 30 points; p < 0.001). 93% of the students rated the course as practice-orientated and 90% felt better prepared for patient contact. Many students suggested an extension of the course in the free text field of the questionnaire.

Conclusion The results suggest significant learning benefits from the ward-based course created. The overall satisfaction was high. Inclusion in the pharmacy curriculum should be considered. Further studies are required to optimise course structure.

Reference

1. Ramos RG. Eur J Hosp Pharm 2014;21:A119

ReferenceThis work was supported by Bayerische Akademie für Klinische Pharmazie/Dr. August und Dr. Anni Lesmüller-Stiftung, Munich, Germany.

The authors are grateful for the expert advice of Dr. Freidank, Fulda Hospital, Germany and PD Dr. Frobenius, MME, Erlangen University Hospital, Germany.

No conflict of interest.