With the increase of students applying to pharmacy programs, it is imperative that admissions committees choose appropriate measures to analyze student readiness. The purpose of this research was to identify significant factors that predict the academic performance, defined as grade point average (GPA) at the end of the first professional year, of pharmacy students. The population consisted of 466 students enrolled in a Doctor of Pharmacy Program in northeast Tennessee over a 5-year period. Statistical procedures included bivariate correlations, t-tests for independent samples, and multiple regression. Analysis of the data revealed that the majority of the students in the population were between 21 and 24 years of age, female, and White, non-Hispanic. Most were from the surrounding region, attended a 4-year undergraduate institution, and earned a bachelor’s degree prior to pharmacy school. Average PCAT scores were: 68 (Composite), 67 (Biology), 64 (Chemistry), 64 (Reading), 60 (Quantitative Ability), and 68 (Verbal Ability). The average undergraduate GPAs were 3.43 (cumulative) and 3.32 (math and science), whereas the average first-year pharmacy school GPA for the population was 3.33. Younger students tended to have higher first-year pharmacy GPAs than did older students. Students with higher PCAT Composite, Biology, Chemistry, or Verbal Ability scores also tended to have higher first-year pharmacy GPAs. Students in the population under study with high undergraduate math and science GPA or undergraduate cumulative GPA also tended to have a high first-year pharmacy GPA. Female students had higher first-year pharmacy GPAs than male students, and White, non-Hispanic students had higher first-year pharmacy GPAs than students of other races or ethnicities. Predictors of first-year performance differed based on gender and race or ethnicity, but cumulative and math and science undergraduate GPAs were consistently significant predictors. No significant difference in first-year pharmacy GPA was observed based on regional status, undergraduate institution type or location, or bachelor’s degree status. The linear combination of preadmission factors was significantly related to first-year pharmacy GPA using a multiple regression model, and the cumulative undergraduate GPA variable accounted for 25% of the variance in the first-year pharmacy GPA.

Objective. To assess and characterize Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students’ well-being across the first professional year (P1) and determine the relationship between the number of examinations taken, student grade point average, and well-being scores. Methods. All P1 students (N=76) enrolled at one college of pharmacy self-reported their career, community, financial, physical, social, and overall well-being on a weekly basis during the fall and spring semesters. Parametric statistical tests were used to examine the extent to which students’ well-being scores varied throughout the academic year, the extent to which their domain-specific well-being scores predicted overall well-being scores, and the association between their well-being scores and the number of examinations they had taken in a week and their grade point average. Results. Overall and domain-specific well-being scores significantly decreased from the beginning to the end of fall semester. Students’ overall well-being across the academic year was most frequently predicted by their career well-being, physical well-being, and social well-being scores. Career, com-munity, physical, and overall well-being scores were significantly negatively associated with the number of examinations the students completed during the week. Students’ self-reported overall well-being during the fall semester was positively associated with their fall semester GPA. Conclusion. Significant variation was found in students’ domain-specific and overall well-being across the P1 year. These findings can guide both the development and timing of school interventions to promote student well-being.

Objective. To examine the extent to which theory of planned behavior (TPB) constructs and demographic characteristics explain pharmacy students’ dispensing intentions in ethically or legally gray areas involving potential substance misuse or abuse. Methods. Two cohorts of third-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students (n5159) were provided with five written cases describing common “gray area” dispensing scenarios in community practice involving medications and devices with potential for misuse or abuse (eg, long-term buprenorphine maintenance prescription without evidence of tapering, early refill of a narcotic for an out-of-town patient, non-prescription sale of pseudoephedrine). Students completed a 12-item survey instrument for each case. Items assessed whether the student would dispense the medication or device in the given scenario, how many times in 10 similar scenarios the student would dispense the medication or device, attitudes regarding dispensing, and subjective norm and perceived behavioral control beliefs. Results. Wide variation in the percentages of students who would dispense the medications or devices was noted across the five scenarios (14% in the buprenorphine scenario to 61% in the pseudoephedrine scenario). Attitude scores significantly predicted dispensing decisions in all scenarios (p,.001), whereas subjective norm and perceived behavioral control beliefs were significant predictors of dispensing only in select case scenarios. Gender and community pharmacy work experience did not consistently predict dispensing intentions. Conclusion. Student attitudes consistently predicted intent to dispense across five gray practice scenarios. These findings can be used to inform development of educational interventions that influence students’ attitudes and self-awareness in community practice decision-making scenarios involving potential substance misuse or abuse.

Objectives: To determine if benefit exists in allowing students to self-test over relevant material as they progress through a professional course. Method: A total of 1,342 multiple choice questions were developed for pharmacy students to self-test for a pathophysiology course. Prior to each examination, students were allowed to take online quizzes which were randomly generated and related to the exam content. Quizzes were scored immediately, and students were shown the incorrect questions along with all answer choices. A matrix of intercorrelations and repeated measures ANOVA were generated using PASW Statistics Version 19 (IBM, Armonk, NY) to evaluate number of quiz attempts, highest attempt score, lowest attempt score, average attempt score, last attempt score, undergraduate GPA, and composite PCAT in relation to exam grade. Results: Seventy-seven of 79 students took advantage of self-testing and completed a total of 7,042 attempts. For the four exams, average quiz attempts score had the highest correlation, R = 0.591, 0.670, 0.550, and 0.373 respectively, to exam score (p ≤ 0.001 for each comparison). For each student who took advantage of self-testing, a paired analysis revealed exam score was significantly higher on the first three exams when compared with quiz attempts average. Implications: Literature indicates self-testing strategies increase recall ability as compared to more commonly employed study techniques. Self-testing opportunities in the pharmacy curriculum could increase student retention of course materials and provide feedback to educators regarding student learning while offering students an indication of their comprehension.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Introduction. The commitment to understand how learning is handled and how students express their thoughts critically has led to the development of theories and methods. Its relevance to teaching can be explained by the evidence that each student has a way of learning and this factor can lead to inadequacies or conflicts between the students' learning styles and the teaching style of the teacher compromising the effectiveness of the process. Objective.To analyze the learning styles and critical thinking of students of Pharmacy and Medicine of the Federal University of Sergipe. Methods. The study was developed in three stages: in the first stage a systematic review of the literature was carried out with the objective of evaluating the relationship between the strategies and teaching methods most appropriate for the learning styles during undergraduate students of Pharmacy courses and Medicine present in the literature; in the second stage a longitudinal study with before-after evaluation was carried out to characterize the preferences of learning styles and critical thinking competence in undergraduate medical students submitted to traditional and active teaching methods; in the third stage a longitudinal study was carried out to analyze the critical thinking skills in Pharmacy students in two courses with different teaching methodologies. Results.The findings of the systematic review indicated that of the 2196 studies analyzed, 20 met the established inclusion criteria. Although it is unclear which learning styles are favored with learning strategies, the Problem Based Learning (PBL) method, audiovisual resources, and research initiation programs have proved to be useful for improving learning experiences. In the longitudinal study, the medical students of the two Campuses presented the same profile of preference of learning styles being characterized by the sensorial, visual, reflexive and sequential styles. With respect to critical thinking, it was found that the students of the active methodology obtained a significant score in the Competence Analysis (p = 0.0323). Overall, students were characterized with high demonstration of critical thinking competence over time. In the study of the analysis of the critical thinking competence, Pharmacy students presented a high demonstration of critical thinking competence. The classification by competence scales showed a significant difference for the Inference (p = 0.0109) scales for the active method and for the Assessment (p = 0.0049), Inference (p = 0.0156) and Explanation (p = 0.0459) for the traditional method. Conclusion. The systematic review revealed that PBL methods, audiovisual resources and computer-aided learning programs have proved useful in improving learning experiences in a number of studies. The students of the medical school even when inserted in different teaching methods had preference for the styles of sensorial, visual, reflexive and sequential learning, being categorized with "high demonstration of competence of critical thinking". For students of the Pharmacy course, it was found that there are differences in the competence of critical thinking when these students are submitted to different teaching methodologies, pointing to a decline in competence Inference to the active and traditional method and improvement of the levels of competence in the scale Assessment and Explanation. / Introdução: O empenho em compreender como se processa a aprendizagem e como os alunos expressam criticamente seus pensamentos tem implicado no desenvolvimento de teorias, métodos. Sua relevância para o ensino pode ser explicada pelas evidências de que cada aluno tem uma forma de aprender e esse fator pode levar a inadequações ou conflitos entre os estilos de aprendizagem dos estudantes e o estilo de ensinar do professor comprometendo a efetividade do processo. Objetivo: Analisar os estilos de aprendizagem e o pensamento crítico de estudantes de Farmácia e Medicina da Universidade Federal de Sergipe. Métodos: O estudo foi desenvolvido em três etapas: na primeira etapa foi realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura com o objetivo de avaliar a relação entre as estratégias e métodos de ensino mais apropriados para os estilos de aprendizagem durante a graduação de estudantes dos cursos de Farmácia e Medicina presentes na literatura; na segunda etapa foi realizado um estudo longitudinal com avaliação antes-depois, para caracterizar as preferências dos estilos de aprendizagem e competência de pensamento crítico em estudantes de graduação em Medicina submetidos a métodos de ensino tradicional e ativo; na terceira etapa foi realizado um estudo longitudinal para analisar as competências de pensamento crítico em estudantes de Farmácia em dois cursos com metodologias de ensino distintas.Resultados: Os achados da revisão sistemática apontaram que dos 2196 estudos analisados, 20 cumpriram os critérios de inclusão estabelecidos. Apesar de não estar claro quais estilos de aprendizagem são favorecidos com as estratégias de aprendizagem, o método Aprendzagem Baseada em Problemas (PBL), recursos audiovisuais e programas de iniciação à pesquisa mostraram-se úteis para melhorar as experiências de aprendizagem. No estudo longitudinal, os estudantes de Medicina dos dois Campi apresentaram o mesmo perfil de preferência de estilos de aprendizagem sendo caracterizados pelos estilos sensorial, visual, reflexivo e sequencial. No que diz respeito ao pensamento crítico verificou-se que os estudantes da metodologia ativa obtiveram uma pontuação significativa na competência Análise (p= 0,0323). No geral, os estudantes foram caracterizados com elevada demonstração de competência de pensamento crítico ao longo do tempo. No estudo da análise da competência de pensamento crítico, os estudantes de Farmácia apresentaram alta demonstração de competência de pensamento crítico. A classificação por escalas de competência demonstrou diferença significativa para as escalas Inferência (p= 0,0109) para o método ativo e nas escalas de Avaliação (p=0,0049), Inferência (p=0,0156) e Explicação (p=0,0459) para o método tradicional. Conclusão: A revisão sistemática revelou que os métodos PBL, recursos audiovisuais e programas de aprendizagem assistida por computador mostraram-se úteis para melhorar as experiências de aprendizagem em diversos estudos. Os estudantes do curso de Medicina mesmo quando inseridos em métodos de ensino diferentes apresentaram preferência pelos estilos de aprendizagem sensorial, visual, reflexivo e sequencial, sendo categorizados com “elevada demonstração de competência de pensamento crítico”. Para os estudantes do curso de Farmácia, constatou-se que existem diferenças na competência de pensamento crítico quando esses estudantes são submetidos a metodologias de ensino distintas, apontando um declínio na competência Inferência para o método ativo e tradicional e melhora dos níveis de competência nas escala de Avaliação e Explicação. / Aracaju