Pharmacy students' knowledge and confidence of COVID-19 following an interactive didactic class

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 education for the pharmacy workforce is important to ensure pharmacists are optimizing patient care for the prevention and management of COVID-19. However, there are currently no reports to our knowledge of education and training experiences for COVID-19 prevention and management in the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curricula. Objective: To evaluate pharmacy students' knowledge and confidence regarding COVID-19 prevention and management before and after an interactive didactic class (IDC). Methods: A multicenter, quasi-experimental, cross-sectional survey study was performed among pharmacy students before and after IDC on COVID-19 at two schools of pharmacy. The IDC on COVID-19 consisted of student-led presentations on a COVID-19 drug, an infectious disease pharmacist faculty-led interactive lecture on COVID-19 prevention and management, and clinical case vignettes to assess COVID-19 management strategies. An anonymous, voluntary, electronic survey was distributed to students (n = 85) before and after. The pre- and postintervention survey contained 10 COVID-19 knowledge-based questions and multi-step, 5-point Likert scale statements related to COVID-19 prevention and management confidence. The postintervention survey also evaluated students' perceptions of the COVID-19 IDC. Descriptive statistics were performed, and Student t test was used to compare pre- and postintervention responses. Results: About 61 surveys were completed resulting in a response rate of 72%. COVID-19 knowledge scores (mean ± SD) increased overall following the IDC (5.9 ± 1.31 vs 8.6 ± 1.29). Pharmacy students' COVID-19 confidence scores (mean ± SD) also improved following the IDC (2.66 ± 0.75 vs 4.03 ± 0.53). Students performed well on the COVID-19 clinical case vignettes with a mean ± SD score of 22.41 ± 0.46 out of 25. Pharmacy students' perceptions of the IDC on COVID-19 were also positive overall. Conclusion: Pharmacy students' knowledge and confidence of COVID-19 prevention and management improved following an IDC. This may be an effective strategy to provide COVID-19 education during the PharmD curricula.