Impact of Completion of a Pre-Pharmacy Biochemistry Course and Competency Levels in Pre-Pharmacy Courses on Pharmacy Student Performance
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Data Collection
2.2. Study Variables
2.3. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
Descriptive Statistics
4. Discussion
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Required Pre-Pharmacy Courses | Semester Hours | Quarter Hours |
---|---|---|
General Chemistry * | 8 | 12 |
Organic Chemistry * | 8 | 12 |
Biochemistry, or Cell & Molecular Biology | 3 | 4 |
General Biology * | 8 | 12 |
Microbiology | 3 | 4 |
Physiology *** | 4 | 6 |
Anatomy *** | 4 | 6 |
Physics ** | 4 | 6 |
Calculus ** | 3 | 4 |
Statistics | 3 | 4 |
Economics (Micro or Macro) | 3 | 4 |
Psychology | 3 | 4 |
Public Speaking | 3 | 4 |
TOTAL = 57 h | TOTAL = 82 h |
References
- Chisholm, M.A. Students Performance Throughout the Professional Curriculum and the Influence of Achieving a Prior Degree. AJPE 2001, 65, 350–354. [Google Scholar]
- Schauner, S.; Hardinger, K.L.; Graham, M.R.; Garavalia, L. Admission variables predictive of academic struggle in a PharmD program. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2013, 77, 8. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Houglum, J.; Aparasu, R.R.; Delfinis, T.M. Predictors of academic success and failure in a pharmacy professional program. AJPE 2005, 69, 283–289. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McCall, K.L.; Allen, D.D.; Fike, D.S. Predictors of academic success in a doctor of pharmacy program. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2006, 70, 106. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Madden, M.M.; Etzler, F.M.; Schweiger, T.; Bell, H.S. The impact of pharmacy students’ remediation status on NAPLEX first-time pass rates. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2012, 76, 191. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Allen, R.E.; Diaz, C., Jr. Use of preadmission criteria and performance in the doctor of pharmacy program to predict success on the North American Pharmacists Licensure Examination. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2013, 77, 193. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Chisholm, M.A.; Cobb, H.H.; DiPiro, J.T.; Lauthenschlager, G.J. Development and validation of a model that predicts the academic ranking of first-year pharmacy students. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 1999, 63, 388–394. [Google Scholar]
- Meagher, D.G.; Pan, T.; Perez, C.D. Predicting performance in the first-year of pharmacy school. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2011, 75, 81. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Renzi, S.E.; Krzeminski, M.A.; Sauberan, M.M.; Brazeau, D.A.; Brazeau, G.A. Prepharmacy years in college and academic performance in a professional program. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2007, 71, 69. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Conn, K.M.; Birnie, C.; McCaffrey, D.; Brown, J. The Relationship Between Prior Experiences in Mathematics and Pharmacy School Success. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2018, 82, 6257. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Boyce, E.G.; Lawson, L.A. Preprofessional curriculum in preparation for doctor of pharmacy educational programs. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2009, 73, 155. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Broedel-Zaugg, K.; Buring, S.M.; Shankar, N.; Soltis, R.; Stamatakis, M.K.; Zaiken, K.; Bradberry, J.C. Academic pharmacy administrators’ perceptions of core requirements for entry into professional pharmacy programs. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2008, 72, 52. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed][Green Version]
- Gleason, B.L.; Siracuse, M.V.; Moniri, N.H.; Birnie, C.R.; Okamoto, C.T.; Crouch, M.A. Evolution of preprofessional pharmacy curricula. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2013, 77, 95. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Sosabowski, M.H.; Gard, P.R. Pharmacy education in the United Kingdom. Am. J. Pharm Educ 2008, 72, 130. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Kheir, N.; Zaidan, M.; Younes, H.; El Hajj, M.; Wilbur, K.; Jewesson, P.J. Pharmacy education and practice in 13 Middle Eastern countries. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2008, 72, 133. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tejada, F.R.; Parmar, J.R.; Purnell, M.; Lang, L.A. Admissions Criteria as Predictors of Academic Performance in a Three-Year Pharmacy Program at a Historically Black Institution. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2016, 80, 6. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Ried, L. Evaluation of a Distance Education Statistics Course. J. Am. Pharm. Educ. 2010, 74, 172. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dirks-Naylor, A.J.; Cook, C.; Nhean, P. Development and assessment of an academic performance enrichment program for low-performing, first-year pharmacy students. Adv. Physiol. Educ. 2019, 43, 259–265. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Varshney, N.; Mason, N.A. Evaluation of peer-led study groups in a PharmD program. Curr. Pharm. Teach. Learn. 2019, 11, 485–491. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McCall, K.L.; MacLaughlin, E.J.; Fike, D.S.; Ruiz, B. Preadmission predictors of PharmD graduates’ performance on the NAPLEX. Am. J. Pharm. Educ. 2007, 71, 5. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dutta, A.; Wutoh, A.K.; Williams, C.; Ofosu, J.R. Predictors of academic success at a historically black school of pharmacy. J. Pharm. Teach. 2002, 10, 1–14. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Successful Completion of a Pre-Pharmacy Biochemistry Course | |||
---|---|---|---|
Yes (n = 61) | No (n = 14) | p Value | |
Academic characteristics; | |||
Science GPA (mean) | 2.93 | 2.90 | 0.77 |
Overall GPA (mean) | 3.11 | 3.06 | 0.61 |
Age (mean) | 26.2 | 27.6 | 0.29 |
Female Gender (%) | 63.9 | 57.1 | 0.64 |
Race (%) | |||
Asian | 63.9 | 71.4 | 0.67 |
White | 31.1 | 28.6 | |
Hispanic | 4.9 | 0.0 |
Unadjusted Analysis | Adjusted Analysis | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Biochemistry Pre-Requisite (Mean Score, %) | No Biochemistry Pre-Requisite (Mean Score, %) | Mean Difference (95% CI) | p Value | Mean Difference (95% CI) | p Value | |
* Biochem and C&MB, final course grade (mean% ± SD) | 85.73 ± 6.84 | 84.08 ± 7.60 | 1.65 (−2.48–5.77) | 0.43 | 1.47 (−2.36–5.30) | 0.45 |
Biochem block exam for the *Biochem and C&MB course (mean% ± SD) | 86.08 ± 9.24 | 85.46 ± 10.93 | 0.62 (−5.03–6.27) | 0.83 | 0.73 (−4.72–6.17) | 0.79 |
Medicinal chemistry, final course grade (mean% ± SD) | 82.63 ± 6.86 | 79.69 ± 10.24 | 2.9 (−1.53–7.41) | 0.19 | 3.06 (−1.00–7.11) | 0.14 |
P1 Fall semester GPA ± SD | 3.18 ± 0.41 | 3.00 ± 0.62 | 0.2 (−0.6–0.47) | 0.13 | 0.22 (−0.03–0.47) | 0.08 |
P1 GPA ± SD | 3.28 ± 0.39 | 3.20 ± 0.48 | 0.08 (−0.18–0.33) | 0.54 | 0.11 (−0.13–0.35) | 0.36 |
Biochem and C&MB Course Score (%) | Biochemistry Pre-Test (%) | Biochemistry Post-Test (%) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Biochem and C&MB course score (%) | R2 (p-value) | 1 | 0.359 (0.002) | 0.270 (0.019) |
Biochemistry pre-test (%) * | R2 (p-value) | 0.359 (0.002) | 1 | 0.519 (0.001) |
Biochemistry post-test (%) * | R2 (p-value) | 0.270 (0.019) | 0.519 (0.001) | 1 |
Medicinal Chemistry Course Score (%) | Biochemistry Pre-Test (%) | Biochemistry Post-Test (%) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Medicinal Chemistry course score (%) | R2 (p-value) | 1 | 0.168 (0.149) | 0.395 (0.001) |
Biochemistry pre-test (%) * | R2 (p-value) | 0.168 (0.149) | 1 | 0.519 (0.001) |
Biochemistry post-test (%) * | R2 (p-value) | 0.395 (0.001) | 0.519 (0.001) | 1 |
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Vinall, R.; Khansari, P.; McDowell, J.; Ried, L.D.; Kreys, E. Impact of Completion of a Pre-Pharmacy Biochemistry Course and Competency Levels in Pre-Pharmacy Courses on Pharmacy Student Performance. Pharmacy 2019, 7, 117. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7030117
Vinall R, Khansari P, McDowell J, Ried LD, Kreys E. Impact of Completion of a Pre-Pharmacy Biochemistry Course and Competency Levels in Pre-Pharmacy Courses on Pharmacy Student Performance. Pharmacy. 2019; 7(3):117. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7030117
Chicago/Turabian StyleVinall, Ruth, Parto Khansari, Jason McDowell, L. Douglas Ried, and Eugene Kreys. 2019. "Impact of Completion of a Pre-Pharmacy Biochemistry Course and Competency Levels in Pre-Pharmacy Courses on Pharmacy Student Performance" Pharmacy 7, no. 3: 117. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7030117
APA StyleVinall, R., Khansari, P., McDowell, J., Ried, L. D., & Kreys, E. (2019). Impact of Completion of a Pre-Pharmacy Biochemistry Course and Competency Levels in Pre-Pharmacy Courses on Pharmacy Student Performance. Pharmacy, 7(3), 117. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7030117