USING A COMPUTER-SIMULATION PROGRAM AND A TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO TEACH PHARMACY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

A pretest-posttest study design with a follow-up measure was used to compare the effectiveness of two approaches used in teaching pharmacy financial management during a 1 1/2-day continuing education (CE) seminar. Following a series of lectures, pharmacists (N = 50) were assigned randomly to either a traditional (TI) group (problem sets with group discussion) or a computer-simulation (CS) group (PRO$PER CS program). Analysis showed significant pretest to posttest gains in achievement for both groups with no between-group differences. Analysis of follow-up tests indicated that retention of the material was not significantly different between groups. Attitudes toward the instructional method were slightly more favorable for the TI group than the CS group possibly because of time constraints faced by the CS group. Both groups reported that the seminar motivated them to be involved in the financial management of their pharmacies. There were no significant differences between groups on the pretest or follow-up measures in the number of hours per month spent analyzing financial statements. It was concluded that both approaches are effective for teaching pharmacy financial management in a CE seminar. Possible explanations for the observed results are discussed.