Impact of a revised teaching certificate program on pharmacy resident precepting skills

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate resident perception of a teaching certificate program (TCP) in preparing them to precept student pharmacists and describe student and preceptor evaluations of resident precepting performance. Methods: In summer of 2020, the TCP at the study institution was revised to equally weight training in experiential and didactic education. Pharmacy residents, fourth-year student pharmacists, and preceptors were surveyed before and after implementation of the revised TCP to assess resident precepting skills. The effectiveness of resident precepting was assessed on a Likert scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Results: After modification, more residents felt that both the TCP and time spent precepting during learning experiences positively contributed to their development as a preceptor (60% vs 100%). Student evaluations of residents demonstrated no significant differences in the proportion who felt their resident preceptor asked questions that were easy to understand or provided actionable feedback (>90% of students agreed). More students strongly agreed that residents’ verbal feedback was timely and actionable after implementation of changes to the TCP (74% vs 52% and 61% vs 45%, respectively). Preceptor and resident surveys regarding resident precepting abilities showed minimal change after modification of the TCP. Conclusion: More residents found beneficial the information and skills gained in the modified TCP compared with prior to the revisions. While evaluations of resident precepting by students, residents, and preceptors did not change overall, the skill of providing actionable and timely feedback improved after the changes to the TCP.