Instagram as a tool to enhance pharmacy student learning of ambulatory care pharmacy

Introduction: This project utilized the social media platform Instagram, which focuses upon posting images with accompanied captions, as a supplemental learning tool. The objective was to assess the impact of using a clinical pharmacy-focused Instagram account on students' knowledge of ambulatory care pharmacy. Methods: A pre- and posttest quasi-experimental design was conducted in a third-year introductory pharmacy practice experience course during fall 2018. Pharmacy students were notified of the availability of an Instagram account managed by the principal investigator that posted ambulatory care clinical pearls as an optional supplemental educational tool. The primary outcome evaluated change in scores from pre- to posttest for the cohort of students in this course who followed the Instagram account (intervention group) compared to the cohort of students who did not follow the account (control group). Results: A total of 69 third-year pharmacy students completed the course, with 37 students choosing not to follow the Instagram account (control group) and 32 students opting to engage with the Instagram account (intervention group). Pretest mean scores were nonsignificant between groups. The intervention group resulted in a higher increase in mean scores from pre- to the posttest (15% vs. 3.1%). Conclusions: Use of an educational Instagram account had a positive impact on students' knowledge relating to ambulatory care pharmacy as demonstrated by this comparison study.