Students' perspective on the Dutch National Pharmacotherapy Assessment, a national survey study among final-year medical students

Erik M Donker*, Floor van Rosse, Ben J A Janssen, Wilma Knol, Glenn Dumont, Jeroen van Smeden, Roya Atiqi, Marleen Hessel, Milan C Richir, Michiel A van Agtmael, Cornelis Kramers, Jelle Tichelaar,

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The Dutch National Pharmacotherapy Assessment (DNPA) was introduced in 2013 to improve clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) education. This study investigated final-year medical students' perceived motivation and level of preparation for the DNPA in different scenarios: mandatory vs. non-mandatory, and traditional high-stakes assessment programme vs. programmatic assessment programme.

METHODS: In this survey study, students from four Dutch medical schools participated. In two medical schools the DNPA is a mandatory assessment in a programmatic assessment programme, and in two schools it is a mandatory, high-stakes assessment in a traditional assessment programme. The questionnaire included six 5-point Likert-type questions, and one open-ended question.

RESULTS: A total of 142 final-year medical students completed the survey. Their overall satisfaction with and current preparation for the DNPA was good (both median scores were 4 out of 5), without differences between students with a traditional or programmatic assessment programme. The majority of the students said they would be more (or much more) motivated (62.7%) and prepared (59.2%) if the DNPA were a high-stakes assessment rather than a programmatic assessment; the non-mandatory or mandatory nature of the assessment would only modestly affect their motivation and preparation (62.7% of the students would be less or similar motivated, 74.6% less or similar prepared). Students opined that the DNPA should be given earlier in the curriculum, together with more dedicated CPT education.

CONCLUSION: While students expressed a greater motivation and preparation when having a high-stakes assessment, and almost a similar motivation and preparation for mandatory and non-mandatory assessments, there were no notable differences in their current perceived motivation and preparation across medical schools with different assessment programmes. This suggests that students appreciate the importance of the DNPA assessment, being almost similarly motivated to prepare for the assessment regardless of whether it is mandatory or non-mandatory or a programmatic or high-stakes assessment.

Original languageEnglish
Article number177266
JournalEuropean Journal of Pharmacology
Volume989
Early online date9 Jan 2025
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 9 Jan 2025

Keywords

  • Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
  • Medical education
  • Pharmacotherapy

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