Evidence for simulation in pharmacy education

Innovations in clinical pharmacy education have advanced patient-centered care knowledge in skills of pharmacy graduates through the use of simulation, virtual reality, and gaming. Pharmacy schools and colleges, as well as health care institutions, have adopted simulation education in various clinical education formats for all levels of learners and practitioners. Over the past 15 years, the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy has embraced innovative approaches to learning and documented advancement of clinical pharmacy education. This brief report will discuss advances in national and international pharmacy education, as well as the PittPharmacy experience with simulation education. A particular emphasis is on human patient simulation, computer-based simulation, virtual patient, and gaming in the settings of direct patient care-related education and assessment. The available literature and the experience at PittPharmacy shows improvement in learner satisfaction, knowledge enhancement, critical thinking skills, and problem solving in patient care topics. The evidence included provides support for the use of simulation to advance clinical pharmacy education and can serve to encourage further scholarship in this area.