(70) If You Build It They Will Come: A New Course for Struggling Students

Objective : To describe and assess the impact of an academic skills course intentionally designed to help struggling students through early intervention.

Methods: A remediation course, “Tools to Enhance Academic Success” was created at the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy in 2020 and expanded to Ferris State University in 2023 with targeted enrollment from students experiencing academic difficulty in their first semester of pharmacy school. Concepts discussed in the small-group elective include: growth mindset, time management, goal setting, learning strategies, and academic self-regulation. Course evaluation surveys and subsequent student performance throughout the curriculum were analyzed to assess impact.

Results: Across 9 course offerings at two institutions, 104 students have successfully completed the courses. Based on a 5-point scale, students rate the course at an average score of 4.92 (range 4.8-5.0). Qualitative analysis of student course evaluation surveys depict the course as being enriching, beneficial, and one that students wish everyone could experience in their first year of pharmacy school. Though the full impact through graduation cannot be assessed due to the recent implementation, a review of student progression after completion of the course indicates that students completing the course are successful in future PharmD coursework.

Conclusions: This innovative approach has been successful in remediating students to success and has grown in popularity as more hear about course benefits and opt to take the elective. Curricular changes to didactic courses and assessment processes have been implemented based on insights gained by faculty during the course.