Introduction of Team-based Learning to the Pharmacy Experiential Practice Course for First-year Pharmacy Students

In recent years, the number of high school graduates has decreased, whereas the number of new pharmacy schools has increased substantially. Therefore, pharmacy schools these days accommodate students from diverse backgrounds in terms of basic knowledge, study skills, and/or their motivation to be pharmacists. To address this issue, we developed a mandatory 10-day course named "Pharmacy experiential practice" for the first-year students. The program trains students in basic pharmacy calculation skills and communication skills, and provides an insight into how these skills can be applied in actual pharmacy practice. The program includes 5 themes, namely, "Compounds", "Solutions", "Infusions", "Nutrition" and "Communication". Each theme, except "Communication", was conducted for 2 days 3 hour calculation practice in class and 3 hour pharmacy experiential practice each day. In the calculation class, we introduced team-based learning, which enhanced the students for interactive learning in the classes. In the pharmacy experiential practices, the students were trained not only to apply their calculation skills to pharmacy practice in each theme, but also to understand the importance of basic science knowledge in strengthening the foundations for their calculation skills. Course evaluation showed that students experienced the effectiveness of interactive study and that they realized the importance of pharmacy practice and the basic sciences that they had learnt. Some students commented that their motivation to become pharmacists increased after this course.