Discovering Paths to Improve Health Professional Education: An Investigation of Educator Teaching Proficiency in Academic Pharmacy Education in Support of a Novel Development Model at the University of Pécs

Abstract

The PhD thesis explores the recognition and impact of educator teaching proficiency in pharmacy education on student learning and professional development to provide scientific support to the ongoing interdisciplinary intervention model at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Pécs. The international guidelines advocate an updated, competency-based, and needs-based pharmacy education, including outcomes-based teaching and learning pedagogy and measurable improvements in teaching effectiveness. Pharmacy schools recognize the need for curricular reforms to develop problem-solving skills and integrate practice-oriented pedagogical strategies. The national survey results showed pharmacy education in Hungary needs the incorporation of active learning pedagogy and a more competency-based, practice-oriented curriculum. Based on biomedical literature screening, the present research detected relatively few pharmacy educator-focused interventions that integrate educational and pedagogical theories and resemble the curricular reforms at the pharmacy faculty in Pécs. Based on the detected scientific literature, the longitudinal and multi-level educational expert support integrating participant micro-group cooperation seemed a pioneering intervention. The international pilot survey validated the results and confirmed that academic pharmacist professionals would appreciate more pedagogical knowledge to improve their educator proficiency. Health educators seek relevant, evidence-based, and adaptable data on adult teaching pedagogy, which should become standard practice within the health educator community.