(108) Pharmacy Residents’ Involvement with Teaching Over-the-counter (OTC)/Self-care Therapeutics

Objective : Describe extent of involvement and effectiveness of pharmacy residents teaching over-the-counter/self-care therapeutic (OTC) topics at schools/colleges of pharmacy.

Methods: Electronic survey was distributed on list-serves with the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the American Pharmacists Association in February 2024. The intended audience was pharmacy faculty or preceptors teaching OTC in the didactic or skills lab curriculum. Questions asked about demographics and pharmacy residents’ training and involvement with OTC at their institution. Data were analyzed in aggregate, using descriptive statistics. Reponses from institutions with multiple respondents were reviewed and a composite result for each institution was determined.

Results: A total of 56 responses from 49 different pharmacy schools/colleges were included. Pharmacy residents were involved in teaching OTC in 87.8% (43/49) of institutions with a median of 3 (IQR 3-4) residents per institution. Of schools with residents teaching OTC (n=43), 72.1% of residents created and delivered didactic lectures, 23.3% delivered but did not create didactic lectures, 51.2% created and delivered small group, case, or lab activities, 62.8% delivered but did not create small group, case, or lab activities, 81.4% wrote quiz or exam questions, 39.5% acted as standardized patients, and 41.9% provided summative or formative feedback to students. Respondents rated the effectiveness of pharmacy residents teaching as very effective 30.6%, somewhat effective 65.3%, and neither effective nor ineffective 4.1% of the time. Reported challenges included faculty time and variable quality of resident teaching.

Conclusions: Pharmacy residents contribute to teaching OTC through a variety of activities. Most faculty consider pharmacy residents effective teachers, however not all pharmacy programs utilize pharmacy residents in teaching OTC.