American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education (03/18/26) Sarna, KV; Syeda, A; Phillips, J
The importance of medical writing for pharmacists is widely recognized, yet this skillset is not routinely covered in pharmacy education. The experience of students in the Retzky College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois reinforces the value of medical writing instruction, according to analysis of a 16-week elective course designed to meet this need. Investigators gathered pre-course feedback from 188 third-year student pharmacists between 2019 and 2023 and collected post-course survey responses from 98. Students reported significantly greater confidence in key areas of medical writing after taking the asynchronous online course than before. Compared with baseline responses, they were more comfortable writing for patients, generating original work without template use, eliminating bias from their content, and assessing the work of peers, among other aspects. Structured training and peer-to-peer feedback were credited for the success of the course, which incorporated assignments, constructive criticism, and collaboration. The elective "addresses longstanding gaps in pharmacy education and better prepares students for both scholarly work and professional communication," write the study authors, who say ongoing assessment and refinement — including attention to the growing role of generative artificial intelligence — are required to keep pace as medical writing evolves.
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