Co-designing the learning experience: seeking student pharmacists' opinions of and recommendations for patient and carer involvement in active teaching in the undergraduate curriculum.

Tonna, Antonella; Subedi, Julia; Akinoso, Oluwafunmilola; Neshat Mokadem, Leila

Abstract

There is an imperative for a collaborative, partnership-working approach throughout Higher Education. This project supports engagement with stakeholders including students and diverse service users. To support patient and carer involvement in undergraduate teaching, a module was launched embedding an innovative teaching method within a pharmacy curriculum. Patients and carers are actively involved in the delivery of the curriculum, by sharing their experiences of their condition and its management with final-year student pharmacists. This current delivery has been very well-received, as evidenced by the results of qualitative research aimed at exploring student pharmacist and pharmacist trainee perceptions of this form of teaching. This pedagogic approach of authentic teaching is supported by UK Higher Educational Bodies (e.g. Advance HE) and links teaching to future practice, allowing students to remember more by viewing the learning as significant and relevant. Staff are very grateful to these volunteers for their valuable contribution, but know this is not a reflection of the wide diversity of patients that students are likely to meet in practice; for example, in the study, all participants were white, all patients were elderly and all carers were female. Looking forward, staff would like to diversify and improve inclusivity amongst volunteer patients and carers, to support de-colonisation of the curriculum and make the learning a more authentic reflection of the communities with whom student pharmacists will meet in practice. This will support the development of a pharmacy workforce that is likely to be more willing to embrace diversity. To involve students further in co-designing the curriculum, student pharmacists will be invited to share their perspectives of current teaching and to provide recommendations regarding how best to diversify volunteer patient populations. In this way, students will be able to influence and inform future planning of curriculum delivery, by voicing their perspectives and opinions.

Citation

TONNA, A., SUBEDI, J., AKINOSO, O. and NESHAT MOKADEM, L. 2023. Co-designing the learning experience: seeking student pharmacists' opinions of and recommendations for patient and carer involvement in active teaching in the undergraduate curriculum. Presented at the 2023 International higher education teaching and learning annual conference (HETL 2023): re-imagining education: collaboration and compassion, 12-14 June 2023, Aberdeen, UK, poster P55.

• Presentation Conference Type: Poster
• Conference Name: 2023 International higher education teaching and learning annual conference (HETL 2023): re-imagining education: collaboration and compassion
• Conference Location: Aberdeen, UK
• Start Date: Jun 12, 2023
• End Date: Jun 14, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jun 26, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 26, 2023
• Keywords: Student pharmacists; Patient experiences; Carer experiences; Student-led teaching
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1997490