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Helping PharmD Students Develop Self-Awareness:

A Longitudinal Approach
Janet H. Cooley, PharmD; Caitlin K. Cameron, PharmD; Sandipan Bhattacharjee, BPharm, MS, PhD; Hanna Phan, PharmD, FCCP
The University of Arizona - College of Pharmacy

BACKGROUND CURRICULAR COMPONENTS OF CONCLUSIONS

In a dynamically evolving healthcare environment, it is imperative for pharmacy
students to not only acquire knowledge, but also ensure continued personal
and professional development.1
Keeping this in mind, the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education
(CAPE) expanded its domains in 2013 beyond knowledge and skills to
include "self-awareness" as a subdomain of "Personal and Professional
Development" (Domain 4)
Self-awareness is defined as "awareness of the distinctive characteristics
(abilities, skills, values and interests) that define the kind of person one is, and
the kind of person one wishes to become. 2
Self-awareness helps in achieving a balance between confidence and caution,
of perseverance and flexibility, choosing between what to follow and what not
to, and also between self-reward without self-delusion.1,3
At the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy (UA COP), we
foster students' self-awareness, by promoting a culture of cognizance of one's
personal knowledge, skills, abilities, beliefs, biases, motivation, and emotions
all throughout their education and training, which is
achieved longitudinally throughout our curriculum experiences.
SELF-AWARENESS
Portfolio
Student Success Toolkit Seminars
True Colors Personality Test
P1 YEAR How to manage feedback
Awareness and Sensitivity: Special
Populations, Culture
EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION
Preceptors guided to have students XXXXXXXXXX
complete rotation evaluations first as a self-
assessment and then follow-up with a discussion.
Students are guided to develop personal goals at the end of each rotation for the
next learning experience.
Some students are able to participate in international rotations. These
experiences include opportunities to blog and report back personal reflections in
the form of presentations after the rotation experiences.
CO-CURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES
Students participate in a variety of co-curricular activities including health fairs,
philanthropy events and interprofessional activities.
Students use their portfolios to document their participation in co-curricular
activities and reflect on contributions toward their growth.
Student Success Toolkit Seminars are hosted throughout the semester. Topics
include Stress Management, Test Taking, Time Management, and Healthy
Eating on a Budget.

PORTFOLIO Portfolio RESIDENCY-FELLOWSHIP

Students complete a structured self-assessment & reflection of expected Student Success Toolkit Seminar PREPARATION PROGRAM
outcomes on career preparedness and meet with mentors annually to discuss.
Quality Improvement Project
A Portfolio Mentor Guide provides examples of questions the mentor can use
to stimulate intentional conversation with mentees about their personal and
P2 YEAR Clinical skills assessment Mentorship program to prepare for application process for post-graduate
professional development. residency or fellowship programs.
Case discussions (in Development of self-awareness through meetings with designated mentor
Pharmacotherapeutics) regarding candidacy (qualifications, social and organizational skills, how one
COURSEWORK handles feedback in further developing oneself) as well as document (CV, Letter
of Intent) review and feedback.
INDIVIDUAL
Students participate in 6 hours of improvisation to increase awareness of
behaviors, emotions, reactions, and abilities.
Video is used as a component of clinical skills assessments and OSCEs
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
for students to review & reflect on their performance. Portfolio
The Objective Structured Management Exam (OSME):
Recognition of one's own preconceptions is fostered through cultural Student Success Toolkit Seminars Piloted and now will be integrated into curriculum
awareness and sensitivity lectures, case reviews in the context of health care
delivery and decision making when caring for diverse populations, a panel Case discussions (in Developed to help students hone their business, management and
human resource skills
discussion, and an aging exercise. Pharmacotherapeutics)
The True Colors Personality Test is used to help students gain insight into P3 YEAR Senior Research Project
Assessment included student reflections and self-awareness of
business related skills
their personality temperament.
New curriculum for Fall of 2018: PHARMD FORWARD. This curriculum will
Students are guided through a session on how to manage feedback. Preparation for Rotations include:
Reflections are used as a tool for engaging students in Preparation for
Rotations course with events such as the Residency-Preceptor Showcase. Mock Interviews Earlier exposure to diseases, drugs and therapeutics
Application of medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and
OSCEs pharmacogenomics to patient-centered care
TEAM-BASED
Quality improvement project (P1) Expanding opportunities for students through more dual-degree options
Teamwork skills, peer evaluation, project management and certificate programs
Case discussions (pharmacotherapeutics) (P2-P3) Will help increase in student self-awareness regarding knowledge,
Teamwork skills in simulated patient care, communication skills application to patient care, interprofessional experiences and co-
Senior research project (P3-P4) curriculum
Teamwork skills, peer evaluation, communication skills, time Portfolio
management
Senior Research Project REFERENCES
Mock Interviews
MOCK INTERVIEWS P4 YEAR Residency-Fellowship Preparation
1. Ramia E, Salameh P, Btaiche IF, Saad AH. Mapping and assessment of personal and
professional development skills in a pharmacy curriculum. BMC Med Educ. 2016 Jan
15;16:19. doi: 10.1186/s12909-016-0533-4. PubMed PMID: 26772809
Students participate in mock interviews as third-years (watching the interviews)
Program 2. Hawthorn R, Watts AG. Careers Education and the Curriculum in Higher Education.
Cambridge: Hobsons Publishing PLC on behalf of CRAC; 1992
and fourth-years (being interviewed). International APPE opportunities 3. Eva KW, Regehr G. Self-assessment in the health professions: a reformulation and
Third-year pharmacy students reflect on what they want their future selves to research agenda. Acad Med. 2005 Oct;80(10 Suppl):S46-54. Review. PubMed PMID:
remember when interviewing (this is revisited in fourth year). 16199457.