A systematic review of the impact of simulation on students’ confidence in performing clinical pharmacy activities

Background

Although confidence does not automatically imply competence, it does provide pharmacy students with a sense of empowerment to manage a pharmacotherapeutic problem independently. Among the methods used in higher education, there is growing interest in simulation.

Aim

To evaluate the impact of simulation on pharmacy students’ confidence in performing clinical pharmacy activities.

Method

Articles that reported the use of simulation among pharmacy students with fully described outcomes about confidence were included. Studies for which it was impossible to extract data specific to pharmacy students or simulation were excluded. The search was carried out in Medline, Embase, Lissa and PsycInfo from inception to August the 31th, 2022. The results were synthesized into 4 parts: confidence in collecting information, being an expert in a procedure/pathology, counselling and communicating, and other results. The quality assessment of included studies was conducted using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool “MMAT” tool.

Results

Among the 39 included articles, the majority were published in the last 5 years and conducted in the United States. The majority included pharmacy students in years 1 through 3 (69.2%). The most common study design was the pre-post uncontrolled design (66.7%). Studies measuring the effects of human and/or virtual simulation were mainly focused on confidence to counsel and/or communicate with patients and colleagues (n = 20). Evaluations of the effects of these types of simulation on confidence in information gathering by health professionals were also well represented (n = 16).

Conclusion

Simulation-based training generally yielded positive impact on improving pharmacy students’ confidence in performing clinical pharmacy activities. Rigorous assessment methods and validated confidence questionnaires should be developed for future studies.