Student Pharmacists’ Reflections on Personal and Professional Development Following a Series of Longitudinal Faith-Based Courses

Abstract

Objective

This study aims to explore how integrating Judeo-Christian religious education into the pharmacy curriculum influences students’ spiritual and moral development, professional values, and mindset, preparing them for future holistic health care practice.

Methods

A series of Judeo-Christian faith-based courses were integrated into the required Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum with the aim of developing student pharmacists’ moral foundation for future health care roles. Student reflections from these courses were compiled and analyzed using WordStat, combining natural language processing and statistical analysis. Content analysis included word cloud visualization, word co-occurrence, phrase extraction, and topic modeling. Thematic analysis with a deductive coding approach was applied. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze coding frequencies.

Results

Word cluster analysis revealed frequently cited and co-occurring words, including God, patient, care, life, love, ethics, personal, professional, health, and people. The frequently occurring phrases included patient care, professional ethics, personal ethics, and professional developments. The topics with high coherence values included love and compassion, empathetic care, caring health professionals, patient care, and leadership based on biblical principles. The major themes that emerged included spiritual growth and connection with God, the cultivation of virtues and ethical principles in personal development, and integration of faith into professional commitments for these aspiring professionals.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that integrating spiritual and religious education into the pharmacy curriculum helps students develop a strong moral foundation, guiding their future practice with compassion and integrity.