Student pharmacists' perspectives of a virtually-delivered reseatch proposal course in the PharmD curriculum

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to assess third-year student pharmacists’ perspectives of a virtually delivered research proposal course. Methods: A 23-item questionnaire was distributed to third-year student pharmacists enrolled in a research proposal course over three weeks in April 2021. The questionnaire consisted of 15 Likert-scale items (how well the course: facilitated student-instructor communication, prepared students for their career, and met expected Doctor of Pharmacy learning outcomes), seven descriptive items, and a free-text item for additional comments about the course. Items were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results: Fifty-four student pharmacists (response rate=40.9%) participated in the survey. Student pharmacists surveyed generally had a positive perception of the virtually delivered research proposal course with median scores ≥4 (i.e., indicating agreement) for the majority (13/15) of survey items. Students did not agree that there was no difference in their motivation to succeed in the virtual course versus an in-person course and did not agree that they were more likely to pursue a career that involves undertaking a research project. Conclusion: This study found student pharmacists generally had a positive perception of a virtually delivered research proposal writing course. These findings offer some support for the provision of an online, virtually delivered research proposal writing course for student pharmacists. Further research with a larger sample of students from multiple pharmacy schools is needed to improve the generalizability of the results.