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- Title
Causes and outcomes of at-risk underperforming pharmacy students: implications for policy and practice.
- Authors
Campbell, Alice; Hinton, Tina; da Costa, Narelle C.; O'Brian, Sian E.; Liang, Danielle R.; Wheate, Nial J.
- Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to understand the key determinants for poor academic performance of students completing a Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm), Bachelor of Pharmacy and Management (BPharmMgmt), or Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree. Methods: Data were collected on pharmacy students who had not met academic progression requirements between 2008 and 2018 at The University of Sydney, Australia. This included: age at the start of pharmacy degree; gender; whether they transferred from another university; whether they were a domestic or international student; Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank upon entry, previous studies in biology, chemistry, or mathematics; show cause triggers (units of study failed); number of show causes; students' written show cause responses; weighted average mark at last show cause or graduation; whether they graduated and were a registered pharmacist; and, the number of years they spent studying the degree. Descriptive studies were used to analyse student characteristics using SPSS software, and student self-reported reasons for poor performance were analysed reflexively using thematic analysis procedures using NVivo. Results: This study included 164 pharmacy students enrolled in a BPharm (79.3%, n = 130), BPharmMgmt (1.2%, n = 2), or MPharm (19.5%, n = 32). Of the students, 54% (n = 88) were men, 81% (n = 133) were domestic students, 15% (n = 24) transferred from another degree program, and 38% (n = 62) graduated from the course. Show cause students were less likely to graduate if they transferred from another degree program (P = 0.0002) or failed more than three units of study (UoS; P < 0.0001). The most commonly failed UoS were related to organic or pharmaceutical chemistry, and the top student self-reported reasons for poor performance was stress/anxiety, physical health, and depression. Conclusion: Pharmacy schools should aim to address student foundational knowledge in chemistry, identify at-risk students early using pre-subject testing, and provide better services to address student mental health.
- Subjects
UNIVERSITY of Sydney; PHARMACY colleges; PHARMACY students; MENTAL health of students; PHARMACY education; AT-risk students; PHARMACEUTICAL chemistry
- Publication
BMC Medical Education, 2024, Vol 24, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1472-6920
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/s12909-024-05327-z