(370) Progression of Student Pharmacist Grit and Resilience through the PharmD Curriculum

Objective : To determine how student pharmacists’ Grit and Resilience change as the PharmD curriculum progresses.

Methods: Current first- (P1) and second-year (P2) student pharmacists (n=185) were invited to participate in a survey to gather data on their Grit and Resilience. The survey used two validated questionnaires, the Grit Grid and Academic Pharmacy Resilience Scale. The survey responses were paired with the student pharmacist’s cumulative GPA and Fall 2023 semester GPA to assess the relationship between the variables and academic performance using t-tests and correlations. Grit and Resilience scores between the two classes were also compared using t-tests.

Results: An independent sample t-test showed that the mean Grit (24.91, SD=3.96) and Resilience scores (30.62, SD=4.18) for P2 students were not significantly different from the mean Grit (25.17, SD=3.75) and Resilience scores (30.72, SD=4.39) for P1 students (p=0.31 and p=0.46). A Pearson correlation showed a moderate positive and significant relationship between P1 Grit Score and P1 Resilience Score (r=0.367, p< 0.001) as well as P2 Grit Score and P2 Resilience Score (r=0.49, p< 0.001). Another Pearson correlation showed a modest positive and significant relationship between P2 Cumulative GPA and Resilience score (r=0.22, p=0.042). No significant relationships were found between P1 GPA and P1 Grit or Resilience scores.

Conclusions: From the results, it can be concluded that students with higher Grit are more likely to have higher Resilience. The current PharmD curriculum may have minimal impact on the growth of student pharmacist Grit and Resilience. The PharmD curriculum can integrate tools to develop Grit early on to ensure a progression in a student pharmacist’s Grit and Resilience as they continue in the program.