(61) Expanding the Pharmacy Pipeline with a Novel Freshman Course on Medications for Future Healthcare Professionals

Objective : To assess student perceptions of a freshman-level “undergraduate signature course” (UGS) designed to introduce undergraduate students at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) to the profession of pharmacy.

Methods: Freshman at UT Austin are required to enroll in an UGS course to gain collegiate-level academic inquiry skills by working in small groups with faculty members who typically teach upper-division coursework. In 2020, four pharmacy faculty members created a UGS course entitled " Introduction to Medications for Future Healthcare Professionals," with a goal to introduce undergraduate students to a career in health sciences. Evaluation scores for course and instructor were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Thematic analysis was used for open ended comments.

Results: A total of 53 students have completed the course since 2020, with 70% of students completing end-of-course evaluations. The average overall instructor rating was 4.94 and an overall course rating of 4.83 out of 5 on student course evaluations. Student comments were largely positive and highlighted the hands-on approach to learning, the engaging and personable teaching style of the primary instructor, and that the content was enjoyable and interesting. Students also identified the drug quizzes were often challenging and that there could be more opportunities to practice writing.

Conclusions: Engaging freshman courses could expand the pipeline for pharmacy applicants, but further study is warranted to analyze students' motivations to enroll in the course and to measure career impact on students.