Utilizing pharmacogenomics to improve students' self‐perception on the interprofessional competencies of roles and responsibilities, and teams and teamwork

Abstract Introduction Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is an emerging discipline with the potential to revolutionize personalized medicine, but its successful implementation requires interprofessional collaboration. To address this need, a virtual interprofessional education (IPE) session was designed for student pharmacists and medical students to engage in a case‐based learning experience. Objective The primary objective was to develop and implement an IPE activity focused on a patient case requiring PGx‐guided dual antiplatelet therapy and to assess students' perceptions of two Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Version 3 Core Competencies. A secondary objective was to identify key lessons from the session. Methods Pharmacist and physician faculty collaboratively developed a cardiovascular case utilized in virtual sessions from 2021 to 2024, requiring percutaneous coronary intervention, highlighting the need for PGx‐guided antiplatelet treatment options. To assess student collaborative learning, a survey instrument self‐assessed competence in four areas, communication, engagement, knowledge, and scope, which aligned to the two IPEC Core Competencies before and after the session using a Likert scale. Wilcoxon signed‐rank tests evaluated differences between pre‐ and post‐activity perceptions, with a p ‐value <.05 considered statistically significant. Additionally, three investigators conducted a thematic analysis of students' free‐text reflections to identify qualitative insights. Results A case was iteratively developed and implemented in virtual IPE sessions from 2021 to 2024. Six hundred twenty‐nine students participated in the sessions, with 507 (80.6%) completing post‐surveys. There was a statistically significant improvement in the agreement scale in post‐activity perception compared with pre‐activity perception in all four areas. The thematic analysis of the free responses identified four themes: (1) the value of collaboration and teamwork, (2) clinical and PGx knowledge, (3) roles, responsibilities, and scope of practice, and (4) the importance of communication. Conclusion The virtual IPE session framework effectively enhanced students' perception of interprofessional competencies, demonstrating the feasibility of using case‐based PGx to foster collaborative, patient‐centered care.