Impact and Durability of a Skills‐Lab Session on Pharmacy Student Knowledge and Perceptions of Substance Use Disorders and Harm Reduction

ABSTRACT Background Substance use disorders (SUDs) and overdose deaths remain an important issue in public health and pharmacy practice. This societal need translates to a need in pharmacy education to create durable knowledge and perceptions regarding these patients in pharmacy students. Despite this need, rich, descriptive approaches of activities to prepare pharmacy students to care for and advocate for patients with substance use disorders are lacking. Methods This study aimed to examine the effect of a skills lab session on pharmacy students' knowledge and perceptions of SUDs and harm reduction before and after the session, including the durability of changes at 12 months after the session. This study surveyed pharmacy students using the Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale (OOKS) and Drugs and Drug Users' Problems Perceptions Questionnaire (DDUPPQ) before, immediately after, and 12 months after a skills lab session. The session occurred during the fall of the second professional year and included a mini‐lecture on SUDs and harm reduction approaches, a video on the real‐world use of naloxone, group discussion, and practice on naloxone counseling. Data was analyzed using paired t ‐tests and descriptive statistics. Results A total of 163 students completed the pre‐ and immediate post‐survey, with 20 students completing the 12‐month follow‐up survey. Student scores on the OOKS and DDUPPQ, including most subscales, significantly improved on the immediate post‐test compared with the pre‐test. Results were mixed at the 12‐month follow‐up test: only one domain of the OOKS significantly decreased, but three out of five subscales on the DDUPPQ significantly worsened. Conclusion A skills lab session may improve pharmacy student knowledge and perceptions regarding SUDs and harm reduction. However, the follow‐up results indicate that knowledge improvement may not be durable at 12 months. More research is needed to examine approaches, including improved scaffolding within curricula, to create a durable impact on knowledge and perceptions in this area.