Therapeutic skills I-III
Practicing real-life tasks in the pharmaceutical sciences
Particularly for older persons, there are numerous hurdles in the correct use of medications: from opening the packaging to the use of special dosage forms such as therapeutic patches to understanding a complex therapy. In this course, pharmacy students learn to anticipate problems in the use of medicines and to prevent them by taking appropriate measures. In addition, they gain initial experience in contact with patients and in using their expertise to ensure therapeutic success and patient safety. They are given the opportunity to practice situations which they will encounter during their internship and in their future work life and receive immediate and direct feedback on it in their class time.
Implementation model
How do students prepare for the class?
Angela Küng: Before the first patient contact, the students interview an elderly person from their circle of relatives about their medication and any difficulties they may have in understanding and using it. In this way, they are already sensitized to problems when working in groups with geriatric patients. They first familiarize themselves with the use of special forms of medication and then explain them to the patients. In doing so, they experience which difficulties arise, e.g. due to visual or motoric limitations, and look for solutions together with the patients.
What is the importance of the patient interviews?
Angela Küng: In their studies to date, students have explored a variety of pharmaceutical subjects and cultivated a strictly scientific approach to drug therapy. The interviews together with the work with hospital patients are often an eye-opener to the gap between science and the every-day use of medicines by patients. This serves as an important “reality check” to prepare students for their role as a pharmacist and illustrates the importance of patient counselling.
What are the students doing in your class face-to-face?
Angela Küng: The face-to-face teaching takes place for the first time in the hospital with patients. It is used to discuss observations and possible solutions, with the lecturers providing input from a pharmaceutical and clinical perspective. At a later stage, face-to-face classes in the lecture hall are used to deepen knowledge. Students contribute their experience from the pharmacy internship and are given the opportunity to practice themselves and instruct others in the correct handling of other difficult-to-use medications.
What is your personal experience with this teaching format?
Angela Küng: The direct patient contact in a geriatric clinic was crucial for the students' great motivation and learning success. In addition, they were already sensitized to problems through the previous interviews with a known person and the ice for working with patients was already somewhat broken. Feedback from students indicated that the patient contact in particular was a key experience, and they also appreciated the opportunity to work hands-on with medications that often cannot be opened in the pharmacy internship.
The production of the educational videos in the lecture hall worked smoothly and the students present were concentrated and enjoyed it. Within a short time, numerous videos were produced that can also be used for future teaching.
The visit to the hospital as well as the production of the videos were voluntary and not crucial for a good exam result. Only about 50-70% of the students participated. We attribute this on the one hand to pandemic-related reasons and on the other hand to the fact that some of the students are not very interested in practical aspects (or even in practical teaching formats).
Especially for these practical teaching formats, the changing Covid-related restrictions were a big challenge. We were also forced to adjust formats. For example, in the fall of 2020, only three students (instead of about 40) were able to work with female patients in the hospital. Videos were shot there, which were then discussed in plenary with all students. In the meantime, a collection of formats of the different elements has emerged, which can be combined in a modular way (see graphic).
Course description
Methods
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Patient contact represents a certain limitation of the scaling and can only be replaced by videos with reduced learning success. We suspect that teaching with the videos in fall 2020 worked relatively well because fellow students were involved, who then also commented in the lecture hall and thus made the recordings very lively.
Tools
- EduApp: for clicker questions on the interviews, especially in online or hybrid classes
- Opencast Videosuite: for easy uploading of the videos and sharing between students, including student peer feedback and discussion.
Kontakt
Inst. f. Pharmazeutische Wiss.
Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1-5/10
8093
Zürich
Switzerland
Kontakt
Age Medical
Hardturmstrasse 131
8005
Zürich
Schweiz
