(46) Escape the Pipeline Decline: Integrating a Virtual Pharmacy Escape Quest into High School Classrooms

Objective : The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of a virtual escape quest on high school students' perceptions and knowledge of pharmacy careers.

Methods: A novel 30-minute pharmacy careers virtual escape quest activity was delivered to high school classrooms at six local high schools. The impact of the activity was assessed through pre- and post-activity electronic surveys that included a knowledge-based assessment and a self-assessment of students’ knowledge of and interest in pharmacy and healthcare careers. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. The differences in the post- and pre-test Likert scores were categorized as follows: Cohen’s d ≥.8, large; Cohen’s d between .5 and .79, moderate; Cohen’s d <.5, small.

Results: 183 students completed both surveys for the escape quest. There was significant improvement in almost all pre-/post- Likert rankings, with large differences in knowledge of pharmacy careers (P <.001, Cohen’s d=1.102) and education avenues (P <.001, Cohen’s d=.982) and a small difference in consideration of a career in pharmacy (P <.001, Cohen’s d=.391). The total score from the pre- and post-survey knowledge assessment also showed significant improvement (P <.001, Cohen’s d=.987), with an average increase of 24.8%.

Conclusions: Completion of the virtual pharmacy escape quest had a large impact on knowledge of pharmacy education avenues and knowledge of pharmacy careers, a moderate increase in knowledge of pharmacy careers, but only a small impact on interest in pharmacy careers. Increasing knowledge of careers and education pathways is essential to expanding the pipeline, however further exploration is needed to assess how the activity impacts interest in the long term.