A career exploration assignment for first-year pharmacy students

Abstract

Objective. To develop, implement, and assess student-learning outcomes from an assignment designed to expose first-year pharmacy students (P1) to a wide range of pharmacy career pathways. Design. Students enrolled in a required Pharmacy Practice and Ethics course at the Lebanese American University chose 1 pharmacist career to investigate from a suggested list of 28 career pathways. Students completed a literature review on the selected career, interviewed a pharmacist practicing that career path in Lebanon, wrote a paper, and prepared and delivered a summary presentation to their classmates about the career pathway. Students peer evaluated their classmates after each presentation. Assessment. More than 85%of the students scored ≥70% on the assignment based on their achievement of student learning outcomes. Responses on an anonymous questionnaire showed that more than 94.6% of students were satisfied with the extent to which the course allowed them to meet the established learning outcomes. Conclusion. A career exploration assignment provided pharmacy students with an opportunity to widen their knowledge and understanding of the different career pathways that are available for them.