Implementation and Evaluation of a 10-Week Health Equity Curriculum for Pharmacy Students.

To describe a health equity curriculum created for pharmacy students and evaluate students' perceptions and structural competency after completion of the curriculum. A health equity curriculum (HEC) based on transformative learning and structural competency frameworks was implemented as a 10-week mandatory component of the pass-no pass neuropsychiatric theme for second-year pharmacy students. Each week, students reviewed materials around a neuropsychiatric-related health equity topic and responded to discussion prompts through asynchronous forums or synchronous Zoom discussions. The HEC was evaluated through assessment of structural competency through a validated instrument (SCI), an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), and a questionnaire. All enrolled second-year pharmacy students (n=124) participated in the HEC. Of the 75 (68%) students who completed the SCI, 46 (61%) were able to identify structural determinants of health, explain how structures contribute to health disparities, or design structural interventions. Ninety-six (77%) students were able to address their OSCE standardized patient's mistrust in the healthcare system. Thematic analysis of student comments elucidated three themes-allyship, peer connection, and self-awareness. Students rated asynchronous discussion forums as significantly less effective than Zoom discussions and patient cases for achieving curricular objectives. A remote, mandatory, blended health equity curriculum demonstrated an effective model for social justice-oriented education. From our experience, a curriculum spread throughout the didactic curriculum with a blended approach is an effective way to incorporate health equity conversations into existing programs and could be an important step in training student pharmacists to be advocates for social justice.