Pharmacists' quality of learning in a diploma/MSc course in pharmacy practice

Abstract

A rapid expansion of postgraduate courses in pharmacy practice has raised the issue of quality. An understanding of how pharmacists approach their learning is one factor that influences learning outcomes. It would, therefore, be of value to identify pharmacists' approaches to learning. This paper describes the approaches to learning on a postgraduate diploma/MSc course in pharmacy practice. The Approaches to Study Inventory was administered to a total of 103 pharmacists over a period of three years. Overall, the pharmacists demonstrated a high meaning orientation and low reproducing orientation, indicating a high quality of learning. This was supported by a consistently low negative attitude score. The surface approach increased significantly in 1993 and 1994 compared with 1992. This is difficult to interpret but may have been due to increased workload. The use of this instrument in combination with other methods of evaluation has allowed a good database to be built up for designing the future of the pharmacy practice course.