A Novel Structured Format for Engaging Pharmacy Students in Bioethics Discussions
Objective: To describe an active, structured ethics/professionalism discussion format developed for an elective course titled Ethics and Professionalism in Pharmacy. Design: The format uses the acronym ETHICS (Evaluate, Teach, Hear, Interview, Concede, Self-reflect). Before class, students evaluated (Evaluate) literature pertaining to ethics/professionalism topics. Class consisted of faculty-led ethics/professionalism lecture (Teach), student-driven, case discussion, and online self-reflection. Guided by Hear, Interview, and Concede, groups addressed cases from stakeholder perspectives (patient, pharmacist, etc.) considering ethical rules and principles. At the end of class, students answered self-reflection questions. Precourse and postcourse surveys evaluated the impact on students’ perceptions of ethical and professional tenets. Assessment: The format allowed students to actively engage in ethics/professionalism discussions, transforming class into an interactive, structured, student-centered session with self-reflection. Conclusion: The format allowed application of concepts to controversial situations. Although the format was created for a pharmacy elective, it is adaptable to any teaching situation.