Student pharmacists' perceptions of a NAPLEX preparation module in the pharmacy curriculum at one United States college of pharmacy

Abstract

Background and purpose: To investigate final-year student pharmacists' experiences of a new module for North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination® (NAPLEX®) preparation at one college of pharmacy in the United States. Educational activity and setting: All student pharmacists enrolled in a new Spring 2023 module for NAPLEX preparation (n = 118) were invited to complete an electronic questionnaire and participate in a semi-structured interview. The questionnaire investigated the perceived helpfulness, grading, importance, prioritization, structure, and timing of the module in the curriculum, as well as assignment choices, confidence building, and time management using a six-point Likert scale. Semi-structured interviews investigated experiences with NAPLEX modules, time management, and course format. Questionnaire data were descriptively analyzed; interview data were thematically analyzed. Findings: Forty-one completed questionnaires and seven interviews were analyzed. Median scores for questionnaire items were six (denoting strongly agree) for three items, five (denoting agree) for seven items, and four (denoting somewhat agree) for two items. Twenty-three (56%) students desired an online self-directed (asynchronous) course structure. Seventeen (42%) students desired a mixture of short and long course assignments with a greater proportion of short course assignments while another 17 (42%) desired only short course assignments. Two themes were constructed from interviews: timing (when to study for NAPLEX) and structure (how to study for NAPLEX). Study findings indicated typically positive perceptions of a module for NAPLEX preparation among final-year student pharmacists at a college of pharmacy in the United States. Recommendations from students can be used to improve the module in future years.