A Systematic Review of Palliative Care Education in the Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum

Objective. To describe methods of teaching and evaluating palliative care experiences for pharmacy students. Findings. Screening of 971 eligible records identified 26 studies. Educational interventions included didactic courses, flipped classrooms, Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs), workshops and seminars. Total, direct hours of education ranged from 1-200. Seven (n=7, 27%) focused experiences were reported as required, while 9 (35%) were reported as elective. The majority (n=14, 54%) of studies measured confidence, attitudes or perceptions as the main measurement outcome, and most reported palliative care experiences increased such parameters. There were 5 (19%) interprofessional experiences for studies conducted within the US, and 4 (15%) for studies conducted outside the US. When reported, most experiences were developed for students prior to APPE year. All included studies utilized a non-randomized design. Summary. While not the focus of this review, this data suggests a palliative care experience for pharmacy students should be interprofessional, occur during the year prior to APPEs and measure skills-based outcomes.