Teaching is a profession that can make a difference in the lives of students, not just through the impartation of knowledge, but of skill sets that students can use and apply beyond the course. My clinical pharmacy faculty inspired me to learn and go further in my education. They also equipped me with the confidence that I can make a difference in the lives of others
through teaching and professional practice. It is this same drive and passion that I will like to instill in my students, in addition to the knowledge base to be an effective practitioner.
As a clinical faculty, in addition to teaching students the basics of the course, I intend to help them develop critical thinking skills. I plan to accomplish this through the incorporation of patient case-based questions that challenge students to think through clinical scenarios, apply the information reviewed and develop a specific plan of care. I also plan to help
them develop skills to independently identify and retrieve pertinent literature including evidence-based guidelines on the management of specific disease states, and then utilize their critical thinking skills to apply the information reviewed to specific patient care scenarios.
Learning should be active, whereby students are not just provided with information, but also asked questions, prompted for feedback and encouraged to participate in the discussion with their questions and comments. I, therefore, plan to keep students actively engaged in the learning process through the incorporation of active learning activities. These will be aimed at not only making students an active participant in their learning but also assisting with the development of critical thinking skills utilizing carefully designed activities.
Providing students with feedback on their work and progress is also an essential component of learning in order to help them to realize where they are excelling in their understanding of concepts and application of the material learned, and areas where additional focus and development are needed. I plan to also utilize feedback from students on their understanding of the material reviewed and the effectiveness of the learning strategies to determine effective strategies that need to be reinforced as a learning tool, and alternative learning tools. I intend to be challenging and assertive but yet fair to students and unbiased in my evaluation of their work.
Students will be assessed on what they have learned throughout the course with the use of case-based questions that will further help them critically think and apply the information learned. In large group assessments, multiple-choice case-based questions on examinations will be used. For smaller group assessments, students can be divided into groups of 4 or 5 to work together on a patient case and then each group per class session presents their casework and answers relevant questions that help to foster critical thinking skills.
I hope to foster lifelong learning skills in students, inspire them to pursue their specific goals and interests in the profession and serve as a role model. I plan to also assist students with their professional growth and integration into pharmacy practice.
Teaching is a very fulfilling and rewarding endeavor. It not only provides the opportunity to impart knowledge to others and to facilitate their academic and professional growth but also allows for continuous self-development as a teacher through self-evaluation, as well as student and peer evaluations. I plan to utilize these tools to enable me to become a more effective and valuable teacher.
