Exploring an integrated curriculum in pharmacy: Students' perspectives on the experienced curriculum and pedagogies supporting integrative learning

Abstract

Introduction: Pharmacy educators are designing integrated curricula to implement teaching that supports integrative learning. How students experience an integrated curriculum, and the extent a curriculum supports the development of integrative learners, has not been well explored. This study investigates students' experiences and meanings of an integrated Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) curriculum.

Methods: Focus groups were conducted with students from the MPharm program at a single study site. The research explored the following questions: what pedagogic strategies do students recognize as examples of integration and how does an integrated curriculum shape learning?

Results: Fifty-one participants took part over eight focus groups. Meta-themes identified mirrored the research questions. Findings suggest that integrative learning is experienced when teaching is purposively designed to be horizontally integrated between disciplines, when integration is made explicit, and when content is applied to pharmacy practice. Integrated assessments were considered to be cognitively difficult.

Conclusion: Learners perceive horizontal integration as useful for promoting context and understanding how to apply science to practice. However, findings suggest the need for assessments to be better aligned with teaching to support the development of higher-order thinking skills.

Keywords: Integrated assessment; Integrated curriculum; Pharmacy curricula; Pharmacy education.