An analysis of student pharmacists' readiness for COVID-19 emergency responses

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The American Society of Hospital Pharmacists has advocated that pharmacist expand their roles in the COVID-19 pandemic by participating in immunizations, point-of-care testing, direct patient care services, and emergency response planning and coordination. While most universities teach students about public health emergency preparedness in the curriculum, there is limited information to determine if students are prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Research Question or Hypothesis: Are pharmacy students prepared to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in a clinical or logistical role? Study Design: Cross-sectional study measuring pharmacy students' COVID-19 emergency readiness. Methods: A 30-item online questionnaire was e-mailed to first and second-year pharmacy students in a concentrated curriculum. Questions assessed participant's knowledge and confidence to perform COVID-19 related tasks. Descriptive analyses were reported for the differences in emergency preparedness readiness. Categorical data was analyzed using chi-square tests with a 95% confidence interval on Minitab®. Results: Forty-five students completed the survey with a 59.2% response rate. Overall, 36 (80%) students reported they were confident in assisting with COVID-19 emergency response planning and coordination. Thirty-three students (73.3%) reported they were confident serving in a clinical or logistical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 14 (31%) of students reported they sufficient knowledge of how to treat and mange patients with confirmed COVID-19 infections. This group was more likely to be comfortable interacting with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients (P= 0.02). Students reported the biggest challenge when delivering COVID-19 pharmacy services to be a lack of information, exposure risk, and the public not following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines. Race, gender, class year, healthcare experience, and medium of COVID-19 education were not factors that correlated with confidence to perform COVID-19 related tasks (P>0.05). Conclusion: Pharmacy schools should implement more training and instruction about COVID-19 emergency preparedness to improve pharmacy students' capability during the COVID-19 pandemic.