Assessing the impact of e-learning modalities used during the COVID-19 pandemic on student confidence to conduct patient interviews

Abstract

Specific Aims: To examine the impact of pandemic e-learning on pharmacy students’ confidence in interviewing patients in-person vs online. Methods: A survey was distributed via email and quick response (QR) code to three Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) cohorts at the University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy: Classes of 2024, 2025, and 2026. The survey included questions gauging students’ confidence regarding different steps of the patient interview, presented using a Likert scale format (1-4). Questions 1, 3, & 5 addressed the online modality. Questions 2, 4, & 6 addressed the in-person modality. For each question, the median Likert response was calculated. Additionally scores from questions 1, 3, 5 and 2, 4, 6 were summated and the median score was reported as the Total Online Confidence (OC) and In Person Confidence (IPC) Score medians respectively. Differences in all medians were analyzed between cohorts. Interquartile ranges (IQRs) were calculated per cohort in both the Total OC and IPC medians to assess variance. Results: 79 surveys were completed by PharmD students: Class of 2024 (n=34), Class of 2025 (n=22), and Class of 2026 (n=23). For all cohorts, the median scores for each question and Total IPC/OC medians were the same with no differences when stratified by gender. Class of 2024 had the highest IQRs for both IPC (IQR=3) and OC (IQR=4) suggesting higher variability in responses. Conclusions: Insufficient evidence to indicate significant impact of pandemic e-learning modalities on students’ confidence levels in conducting patient interviews, whether online or in-person.