Assessment of a Mindfulness Meditation Elective in an Accelerated Doctor of Pharmacy Program

Abstract

Objective. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of a live 14-week mindfulness elective course on the well-being of Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students in an accelerated program. Methods. Pharmacy students enrolled in a mindfulness elective participated in weekly class sessions that included an eight-week mindfulness program geared toward emerging adults. Eight weekly reflections were assigned to students and evaluated using the Text iQ text-analysis tool in Qualtrics. Investigators analyzed the sentiment scores assigned by Text iQ to detect differences in the tone of student reflections over time. Results. Twenty-four students were enrolled in this elective, and 22 students submitted complete reflections for evaluation. Mean sentiment scores and the percentage of responses in sentiment score categories (very positive and positive, mixed and neutral, very negative and negative) for these reflections showed significant differences between weeks. Conclusion. The tone of student reflections was more positive after the students learned and incorporated mindfulness practice into their accelerated PharmD curriculum.