Student Pharmacists’ Emotional Responses and Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: Health professions students, including student pharmacists, have been impacted by the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19 pandemic) as schools have transitioned to remote learning and cancelled milestone events. During times of crises, media consumption and hobby participation also impact well-being. The adverse emotional responses and coping strategies of student pharmacists amidst the COVID-19 pandemic have not been evaluated, nor have factors that may contribute to emotional responses. The purpose of this study is to determine Doctor of Pharmacy students’ emotional responses and coping precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the influence of media use, working status, and participation in hobbies. Methods: An anonymous online survey was administered to student pharmacists from May 21 to June 7, 2020 at one school of pharmacy in Kentucky. Measures included gender, working status, media source and use, hobby participation, emotional responses, and the Brief COPE to measure coping reactions. Results: A total of 550 student pharmacists from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy were invited to participate the study. Participants (n = 77, 14% response rate) identified feelings of anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants who consumed less than one hour of media per day were less likely to feel fear than those who consumed more. Students who continued to work during the pandemic reported less fear and sadness compared to those who did not. Those who participated in hobbies were less likely to report feelings of sadness. Student pharmacists reported using approach coping more frequently than avoidant. Conclusion: Life-disorienting events, like the COVID-19 pandemic, can negatively affect student pharmacists’ well-being. Pharmacy schools should prepare student pharmacists for times of both major and minor crises.

1311. Incorporating an “Escape Room” Game Design in Infectious Diseases Instruction

Background As health professions education evolves toward active learning environments, interest in using games as an educational tool is increasing. One contemporary commercial game that has design potential for learning activities is an “escape” or “breakout” room. Escape rooms are live-action games where teams of players work to achieve a common goal in a set amount of time. Limited literature is available assessing this type of gaming format for education design. This study investigated the design and implementation of an escape room learning activity in a third-year pharmacy infectious disease elective course at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. Methods During a Gram-positive antimicrobial resistance module, third-year pharmacy students participated in both patient case-based instruction and an escape room learning activity. Three IRB-approved surveys were distributed electronically to students; the first was completed prior to class and functioned as a standard teaching tool to assess mastery of content based on pre-assigned reading and previous coursework. Two surveys were completed after the session to assess knowledge and perceptions gained during each learning activity. Students answered multiple-choice knowledge-based questions and then responded to five statements using a Likert scale from 1 to 7 (1 = Not at all, 4 = Somewhat, and 7 = Very much) to indicate perceptions of each instructional activity. Results Nineteen students participated in the study. The mean correct scores for knowledge-based assessment were 90.5% in the pre-class survey, 82.1% in the post-case survey, and 90.5% in the post-escape room survey. There was an overall positive perception of both learning activities based on results of the survey questions. The escape room learning activity was preferred by 18 of 19 students (94.7%), but only 11 of 19 (57.9%) indicated they learned better from the escape room. Conclusion This study illustrates an escape room designed to meet lecture learning objectives is a feasible active learning technique. While students demonstrated knowledge gained from the activity and indicated positive perceptions, this approach warrants further evaluation. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

University of Kentucky Rural Physician Leadership Program: A Programmatic Review

This article describes the characteristics and results of the Rural Physician Leadership Program (RPLP) at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. RPLP is a successful example of a regional medical campus designed to train physicians at a regional medical campus to serve rural areas through local partnerships.

Higher Education

This chapters examines the role of higher education officials in supporting the war and looks at how colleges and universities prepared students for wartime roles. Three Kentucky college presidents contributed significantly to these efforts: Edgar Young Mullins of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Henry Hardin Cherry of Western Kentucky State Normal School, and Frank McVey of the University of Kentucky (UK). The chapter also covers the extensive Student Army Training Corps and supplementary military training given at UK under the leadership of Captain Herbert N. Royden.