Assessing Content of Law Curriculum in Colleges of Pharmacy in the United States

Objectives: Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy at East Tennessee State University is interested in using innovative teaching methods to incorporate pharmacy law concepts throughout the curriculum in a longitudinal nature. This project seeks to characterize law curricula at US institutions of pharmacy based on the following criteria: teaching methods, curricular placement and integration, and instructor credentials. Method: A survey about law curricula was sent electronically to individuals at 127 colleges of pharmacy. The survey inquired about curricular placement, amount of time dedicated to formal lecture and in-class exercises, utilization of innovative teaching techniques and instructor credentials. Results: Individuals from 95 institutions responded to the survey (74.8% response rate). Law courses are typically offered in the third year of the four year professional program (46.2%). 45.6% of course coordinators have PharmD degrees, 55.3% have BS Pharmacy degrees and 37.8% have JD degrees. On average, respondents indicated 77.6% of course time is spent on lecturing and 20.7% of time is spent on active learning. Innovative learning techniques in law courses include case-based learning, student presentations, writing assignments focused on changing specific laws, and incorporating law into a cumulative exam at the end of each semester. Many institutions have incorporated law into other courses in the curriculum, including lab courses (34.1%), pharmacotherapy courses (18.8%) and ethics courses (41.2%). Implications: Variation exists in how pharmacy law is being taught at colleges of pharmacy across the country. Whereas a majority of the material is taught through lecture, many institutions are using innovative teaching techniques for communicating the material to students. Read More: http://www.ajpe.org/doi/full/10.5688/ajpe7659