(23) Baseline Assessment Test: A Predictor for Students' Performance in Pharmacy School

Objective : With a concerning rise in attrition rates in pharmacy programs, there is an urgent need to identify factors that can predict which students may face challenges and perform poorly during their enrollment in Pharmacy school. Numerous studies have investigated the contribution of prior knowledge to overall success. Understanding that success is not solely determined by academic knowledge but also by non-cognitive factors such as self-awareness and perseverance. This study aimed to discern predictors of student success to facilitate targeted interventions and mitigate attrition rates. We explored whether baseline knowledge and grit scores could serve as indicators for students' success.

Methods: First-year pharmacy students from three cohorts comprising the classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025 completed a baseline assessment during the first week of pharmacy school. The baseline assessment is made up of both cognitive and non-cognitive measures. There are questions to assess students’ knowledge of physiology, chemistry, and college algebra. The non-cognitive measures include the BAI (Beck Anxiety Inventory) and the Duckworth GRIT Scale. The correlations between baseline assessment scores and Quarter 1 GPA, Year 1 GPA, BAI, and GRIT scores were assessed.

Results: Our findings showed that baseline performance correlated significantly with the students' performance in quarter one (p <.001) and at the end of year 1 (p <.001). Notably, students with higher baseline scores demonstrated greater academic success. There were negative correlations between GRIT scores, BAI scores, and student success; however, they were not significant.

Conclusions: Undergraduate science knowledge remains the main predictor for students’ success in the didactic year in the Doctor of Pharmacy Program.