(24) Building a Culture of Psychological Safety in Pharmacy Education

Objective : This project aimed to identify strategies for development of psychological safety within pharmacy education.

Methods: Beginning in October 2023, clinical faculty at two colleges of pharmacy (USF and UNM) worked with the Assistant Director for Personal and Professional Development (USF) to search for literature and resources on best practices for supporting students’ socioemotional wellbeing in response to global crises. Areas of focus included creating a culture of wellbeing, trauma-informed approaches to higher education, community-building, and burnout prevention. After literature review, psychological safety was identified as a key strategy to improving wellbeing and responsiveness to student needs. A collaborative workgroup was formed, focusing on integration of psychological safety practices into pharmacy education.

Results: A definition of psychological safety was identified for intervention, originally developed by Amy Edmondson, which includes 1) inclusion safety, 2) learner safety, 3) contributor safety, and 4) challenger safety. The workgroup aimed to first focus on building inclusion safety, developing considerations for incorporating these tenets into pharmacy education. Using the theoretical markers of psychological safety, targets included 1) assessment of faculty-student relationships, 2) establishing initiatives for community-building with the goal of overcoming perceived hierarchies, and 3) creating key statements to guide expectations for relational engagement and commitment between faculty and students.

Conclusions: Thoughtful inclusion of psychological safety may build a sense of community in an ever-changing landscape of professional education, as well as promotes shared humanity, community engagement, and mutual support in the wake of global crises. A quantifiable tool is needed to assess perceived psychological safety for pharmacists-in-training and beyond.