An Evaluation of Nonacademic Predictors of Success in a Doctor of Pharmacy Program

Objective. Pharmacy programs have struggled to predict who will be successful in their programs based solely on cognitive skills. The primary objective of this study was to determine which, if any, nonacademic factors are associated with on-time progression within the school of pharmacy curriculum....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAmerican journal of pharmaceutical education Vol. 87; no. 2; pp. 191 - 196
Main Authors Seifert, Charles F, Mahan, Rebecca J, Mathys, Monica, Minze, Molly G, Sherrod, Sonya E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Alexandria American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy 01.03.2023
Elsevier Limited
Subjects
Academic achievement
Academic degrees
Cognition & reasoning
Curricula
Doctor of pharmacy degree
Evaluation
Extracurricular activities
Forecasts and trends
Health sciences
Medical education
Pharmaceutical Education
Pharmacists
Pharmacy
Questionnaires
Regression analysis
SAT assessment
Secondary schools
Stress
Students
Success
Thinking Skills
Time management
Undergraduate Study
United States
United States > US
Texas
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Summary:Objective. Pharmacy programs have struggled to predict who will be successful in their programs based solely on cognitive skills. The primary objective of this study was to determine which, if any, nonacademic factors are associated with on-time progression within the school of pharmacy curriculum. Methods. A survey was developed and offered to all Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy students in fall 2020. This survey included questions to collect demographic data and incorporated four validated questionnaires: the Grit-Grid, the Academic Pharmacy Resilience Scale (APRS-16), the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS), and the Turkish Time Management Questionnaire (TTMQ). Results. Completed surveys were submitted by 213 students out of 569 (37.4% response rate). On-time progression rate was calculated separately for each class. Through binary logistic regression, we found that on-time progression was significantly associated with prepharmacy grade point average .3.20, high school Grit-Grid score .0.9, APRS-16 score .35, and CPSS score .34. Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) composite scores and admissions committee rubric scores were not associated with on-time progression. Conclusion. Based on the results of this study, it may be reasonable to implement the Grit-Grid, APRS-16, and the CPSS in the admissions process to help determine the most appropriate candidates for our program or use them as screening tools for incoming students to identify who may be at academic risk. However, these factors need to be validated in pharmacy programs in other private and public universities before widespread adoption can be condoned. Keywords: predictors, nonacademic factors, progression, pharmacy students
ISSN:0002-9459
1553-6467