(56) Evaluation of a formal pharmacotherapy preparation boot camp and the impact on exam performance

Objective : The objective of this study was to learn about the perceptions of student pharmacists who attended a pharmacotherapy boot camp and compare their performance to the previous year when the boot camp was not offered.

Methods: Second and third-year students were offered a two-hour pharmacotherapy boot camp on the first day of class in Fall 2023 which focused on study strategies and how to break down and answer case-based questions. After the first exams in each course, students were emailed a survey with questions about how the boot camp prepared them for the exam and if it should be offered again. Aggregate data from the exams were compared to performance in Fall 2022 before the boot camp was offered.

Results: Second-year pharmacy students increased first clinical exam average scores from 77% in 2022 to 85% in 2023 while third-year pharmacy students first clinical exam average scores dropped slightly from 79% in 2022 to 77% in 2023. In the survey review of the boot camp, 37 student responses were collected. Students perceived preparedness for exams on a scale of 1 to 4 improved from 2.4 prior to the boot camp to 3.1 following the boot camp and the number of students who felt “not prepared” improved from 23% to 0% after the boot camp. 86% of students recommended we offer a boot camp again next year, with several comments suggesting that we focus on second-year students in the future.

Conclusions: Overall, students reported the pharmacotherapy boot camp was helpful and may have contributed to an increase in scores, specifically in second-year pharmacy students experiencing the pharmacotherapy sequence for the first time.