A six-year longitudinal study of Japanese pharmacy students at a private pharmacy university aimed to identify student cognitive learning strategies and the academic support needed in pharmacy education. Data were analyzed using a cross-lagged panel model and a latent growth model. Students tended to use a deep processing strategy upon university admission, but over time, were negatively influenced by shallow processing, such as rote and repetitive task strategies. For example, in the cohort studied, the use of both rehearsal and note-summarization strategies gradually decreased over the six-year period, albeit with individual differences. These findings suggested that academic support, early awareness of deep-processing strategies, and prevention of overreliance on surface-processing strategies promoted effective student learning in pharmacy education. While the specific characteristics of the cohort must be considered, these results will lay a foundation for long-term learning support in pharmacy education.

Pharmacy students in Japan must pass the National Examination for Pharmacists to become licensed professionals; however, pass rates vary significantly across pharmaceutical colleges. Various factors, including the students’ academic standing at admission and quality of education during their college years, are likely to influence these differences. This study analyzed data from 74 pharmaceutical colleges to develop a metric representing relative educational performance. First, we found a strong correlation between the pass rates and academic standing at admission. To assess the impact of college education, we calculated the residuals from the regression curve of pass rates against academic standing at admission. This metric, termed the relative educational performance on the pharmacist examination (REPP), reflects the relative educational contribution of each college beyond the initial academic ability of the students. The REPP metric showed a moderate correlation with the national exam pass rate, but no correlation with the academic standing at admission. While academic standing at admission could predict the pass rates of the national exam, REPP improved the predictive accuracy. These results indicate that REPP is a convergent metric with the pass rate on the National Examination for Pharmacists and is discriminative toward academic standing at admission. Moreover, REPP can serve as a useful indicator of the educational effectiveness of pharmaceutical colleges.

Our university’s microbiology laboratory (lab) course is designed by incorporating institution-specific items into the “skills” component of the 2013 revised version of the Model Core Curriculum for Pharmacy Education (MCC). This study aimed to evaluate whether the current practical training remained effective for students following the 2022 revision of the MCC. After completing the course, students participated in a questionnaire survey to assess their perceived proficiency in the skill items, their engagement during the practical, and their overall impressions of the experience. The results showed that approximately 90% of students were able to master the “skills” items from the 2013 revised version of the MCC to a level that enabled them to perform the practical tasks independently, with minimal assistance. Additionally, 67.8% of students reported an increased interest in their classroom courses after the lab activities. These findings supported the hypothesis that the current microbiology labs adequately addresses all essential requirements for pharmacy students while fostering greater interest in classroom learning. Therefore, the practical lab training remains a valuable component of the curriculum under the revised MCC.

At the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fukuoka University, group work focused on prescription analysis is incorporated into the dispensing practicum program as part of the pre-study of clinical practice. This approach is aimed at offering students a dispensing experience that closely mirrors actual clinical settings, to foster not only technical proficiency but also diverse forms of critical awareness and reflection. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the dispensing practicum for the 2024 academic year. Understanding of dispensing techniques markedly improved across all evaluated items after the practicum. Regarding the learners’ perceptions of applying their prior knowledge in the dispensing practicum, the frequently extracted terms included “calculation,” “medicine,” “dispensing,” and “package inserts.” Among these, “calculation,” “medicine,” and “package inserts” were frequently mentioned as areas where learners felt insufficiently prepared. Regarding what students intended to be mindful of when engaging in dispensing in the future, the frequently mentioned terms included “patient.” Through the dispensing practicum, students not only acquired technical skills but also developed awareness by gaining insights with a focus on actual clinical settings. This provided participants with an opportunity to experience, even in a non-clinical setting, the importance of prescription analysis for individualized optimization, as well as the central role of the patient in pharmacists’ responsibilities, including dispensing.