Are pharmacy graduates practice ready? A validation and assessment study of curricular effectiveness in a school of pharmacy in Lebanon

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to validate the programme learning outcomes (PLOs) in a Lebanese pharmacy school. It also aimed to assess curricular effectiveness through self-reported assessments of recently graduated BPharm students and investigate if academic and sociodemographic characteristics impact learning outcomes’ achievement. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online questionnaire. The initial section of the questionnaire gathered data concerning academic and sociodemographic characteristics, while the second section centred around a scale-based self-declared assessment of the PLOs. Results: The validated BPharm PLOs encompassed six distinct domains, comprising a total of 20 competencies and 110 learning outcomes. All competencies were successfully extracted with factor analysis and appropriately loaded on their respective domains. The internal consistency of the competencies and domains was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha, with values ranging from 0.741 (good) to 0.957 (excellent). The graduates indicated their proficiency across all domains, with an average percentage grade ranging from 87.29% for professionalism to 87.55% for the approach to practice and care. Conclusion: The findings reveal a valid structure of the current PLOs with robust internal consistency. The high proficiency levels of graduates across all competency domains confirm the effectiveness and structural integrity of the curriculum.