Pharmacy students’ perceptions of a competency-based subject catalogue for the first state examination in Germany

Background: Competency-based education models (CBEM) are gaining growing importance in the qualification of healthcare professionals. However, the need for a pharmaceutical CBEM in Germany, particularly a competency-based Subject Catalogue (SC), remains controversial and has not been previously explored. Hence, a survey was conducted to evaluate the expectations of German pharmacy students regarding this topic. Methods: An anonymous online survey was administered between December 2022 and January 2023 to all pharmacy students in Germany. The questionnaire primarily used a 4-point Likert scale ranging from “disagree” to “agree”. Results: The majority of participants (N = 605) expected benefits from a competency-based SC. More than 90% supported a detailed and precise formulation of learning objectives, along with additional elements, such as competency levels and application examples. Conclusion: The study provides recommendations to improve the SC, facilitating pharmacy students’ preparation for the first state examination. Furthermore, findings highlight the need for better integrating theoretical knowledge into application-related content.