At the Division of Pharmacy in Ehime University Hospital, we conduct drug counseling training for undergraduate students and graduate students aimed at helping them acquire communication skills as well as clinical knowledge. The program relies largely on case-based learning (CBL) procedures and role-play practice using video tape recordings. In the following, we describe the drug counseling training program and report the results of a student evaluation of the program.
The training program consists of the following : 1. Explanation of the procedure of the practical training ; 2. Presentation of a mock case file-including a patient profile, diagnosis, clinical history, laboratory data and prescription ; 3. Explanation of how to collect drug information ; 4. Study of individual cases by students, 5. Role-play in providing drug counseling and recording this on video (with a student in the counseling role and a pharmacist in the patient role) and 6. Discussion and review by students and clinical pharmacists (including the person who played the patient role) after watching the video recording.
After the training, we conducted a survey of the participating students by questionnaire regarding their opinions of the training program. Almost all of the students considered the practical training to be useful because it enabled them to evaluate their performance in drug counseling and communication skills objectively.They also felt that the guidance they had received from clinical pharmacists had been useful. Our training program on drug counseling using CBL procedures and video recordings is thus a simple method of training students which enables them to improve both their communication skills and clinical knowledge.