Causes and outcomes of at-risk underperforming pharmacy students: implications for policy and practice

Alice Campbell; Tina Hinton; Narelle C da Costa; Sian E O'Brian; Danielle R Liang; Nial J Wheate

doi:10.1186/s12909-024-05327-z

Causes and outcomes of at-risk underperforming pharmacy students: implications for policy and practice

BMC Med Educ. 2024 Apr 19;24(1):421. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-05327-z.

Authors

Alice Campbell¹, Tina Hinton^{1

2}, Narelle C da Costa¹, Sian E O'Brian¹, Danielle R Liang¹, Nial J Wheate³

Affiliations

¹ Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
² Charles Perkin Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney NSW, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia. nial.wheate@sydney.edu.au.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to understand the key determinants for poor academic performance of students completing a Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm), Bachelor of Pharmacy and Management (BPharmMgmt), or Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree.

Methods: Data were collected on pharmacy students who had not met academic progression requirements between 2008 and 2018 at The University of Sydney, Australia. This included: age at the start of pharmacy degree; gender; whether they transferred from another university; whether they were a domestic or international student; Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank upon entry, previous studies in biology, chemistry, or mathematics; show cause triggers (units of study failed); number of show causes; students' written show cause responses; weighted average mark at last show cause or graduation; whether they graduated and were a registered pharmacist; and, the number of years they spent studying the degree. Descriptive studies were used to analyse student characteristics using SPSS software, and student self-reported reasons for poor performance were analysed reflexively using thematic analysis procedures using NVivo.

Results: This study included 164 pharmacy students enrolled in a BPharm (79.3%, n = 130), BPharmMgmt (1.2%, n = 2), or MPharm (19.5%, n = 32). Of the students, 54% (n = 88) were men, 81% (n = 133) were domestic students, 15% (n = 24) transferred from another degree program, and 38% (n = 62) graduated from the course. Show cause students were less likely to graduate if they transferred from another degree program (P = 0.0002) or failed more than three units of study (UoS; P < 0.0001). The most commonly failed UoS were related to organic or pharmaceutical chemistry, and the top student self-reported reasons for poor performance was stress/anxiety, physical health, and depression.

Conclusion: Pharmacy schools should aim to address student foundational knowledge in chemistry, identify at-risk students early using pre-subject testing, and provide better services to address student mental health.

Keywords: At risk; Higher education; Pharmacy; Show cause; Underperformance; University.

MeSH terms

Australia
Education, Pharmacy*
Female
Humans
Male
Pharmacy*
Policy
Students, Pharmacy*