Assessing the effectiveness of a novel wellness check-in activity among third-year pharmacy students

Recipients

Sherilyn Houle, School of Pharmacy

Heidi Fernandes, School of Pharmacy

Cynthia Richard, School of Pharmacy

Kaitlin Bynkoski, School of Pharmacy

Becky Ewan, School of Pharmacy

(Project Timeline: May 1, 2020 - April 30, 2021)

Description

  • This project evaluated the effectiveness of a newly developed wellness check-in activity with third-year students at the School of Pharmacy.
    • An activity was initiated in Winter 2020 to recognize the demanding curriculum, and academic burnout among pharmacy students.
  • The project further evaluated whether students took away key learning objectives and if they made significant changes in their self-care practices.
  • This project represents the first initiative to be employed by a pharmacy school in Canada to develop and examine the impacts of a wellness check-in among pharmacy students. 

Areas Investigated

  • Determining whether the check-in activity had a sustained positive effect on students’ wellness and self-care efforts.
  • Determining the extent to which this activity impacted students’ coping skills and ability to manage difficult periods of stress and identify opportunities to improve and/or expand the activity to best meet students’ needs.

Findings

  • Check-in was rewarding and overall positive for students and faculty.

    • The personal connection with members of the school and the strategic timing of the activity within the curriculum notably contributed to its success.

  • The short duration of individual sessions was the key criticism.

  • Students performed some form of checking in post-activity, including at 6- and 18-month time points.

  • Check-in’s place in the pharmacy curriculum still needs to be determined regarding optimal timing; however, it has been adopted as an ongoing annual event.

Dissemination and Impact

  • Check-in has been adopted as an annual and ongoing activity within the PHARM329 course.

    • Despite the option to opt-out, student participation remains high with informal positive feedback continuing to be received.

  • Additional facilitators have been recruited to allow expansion of sessions from 15 to 20 minutes 

  • Multiple publications, which can be further explored here.

Implications

  • There have been discussions to offer the activity more than once during the curriculum.

  • Additional faculty have been recruited to participate in able to extend sessions to 20 minutes in length.

  • Discussion on burnout and the importance of checking-in has been added to the pharmacy seminar series.

  • Informal discussions held with attendees at the UW Teaching and Learning Conference (UWTL), and the Canadian Pharmacy Education and Research Conference.

References

1. President’s Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health. Final report. https://uwaterloo.ca/mental-health-wellness/sites/ca.mental-health-wellness/files/uploads/files/pac-smh_final_report_final_march12.pdf. Published February 16, 2018. Accessed February 1, 2020.

2. Barker A. The science behind pharmacist burnout is scary: here is what to do about it. Pharmacy Times. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/contributor/alex-barker-pharmd/2018/01/the-science-behind-pharmacist-burnout-is-scary-heres-what-to-do-about-it. Published February 25, 2018. Accessed February 1, 2020.

3. Bruce SP. Recognizing stress and avoiding burnout. Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2009;1(1):57-64. doi:10.1016/j.cptl.2009.05.008.

4. Zubin A, Kellar J. Resilience: a primer for pharmacists. presentation. Presented as part of Canadian Pharmacists Association’s online webinar series; December 19, 2019; Toronto, ON.

5. Durham ME, Bush PW, Ball AM. Evidence of burnout in health-system pharmacists. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2018;75(23):93-100. doi:10.2146/ajhp170818.

6. Rev. Audio transcription made simple. https://www.rev.com/transcription. Accessed February 1, 2020.