Background: The goal of the role-play for pharmacological education (RPPE) is to acquire fundamental competences for drug therapy. These competences are based on presentation and communication skills as well as understanding of pharmacology and pathophysiology. The conventional face-to-face RPPE exhibited much higher learning effects in players than audiences, although audiences also established efficient learning through observation and discussion. However, the learning outcomes of the online RPPE (oRPPE) has not been determined. In this study, we evaluated oRPPE learning effects.
Methods: Participants: 4^th grade medical student at Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University who took oRPPE in 2020 and 2021. Measurements: The questionnaire was used to evaluate learning effects. Four following items were asked on a five-point scale after the course completion. 1) Knowledge. Was oRPPE effective in understanding drug therapy? 2) Patients. Was oRPPE effective in understanding the patient's feelings? 3) Motivation. Has your motivation as a medical student improved through oRPPE? 4) Behavioral changes. Will oRPPE bring you a change in learning attitude? Analysis: Each item was compared between players and audiences. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.01.
Results: Total participants were 194 students (Players: 110, Audiences: 84) who completed the course. We collected questionnaire from players (n=106) and audiences (n=72). Knowledge, Motivation and Behavioral changes were significantly higher in players [Mean score (95% CI). Players vs. Audiences. Knowledge 4.509 (4.317-4.702) vs. 4.139 (3.948-4.329) (p<0.001); Motivation 4.434 (4.244-4.624) vs. 3.972 (3.746-4.199) (p<0.001); Behavioral changes 4.283 (4.107-4.459) vs. 4.042 (3.847-4.237) (p=0.0098)]. On the other hand, Patients was not statistically significant between players and audiences [4.377 (4.178-4.577) vs. 4.208 (4.007-4.409) (p=0.0216)].
Conclusions: Players showed much higher learning effects in Knowledge, Motivation and Behavioral changes. Learning as an audience, however, also established a better understanding of Patient‘s feeling.