Assessment of clinical competencies in realistic simulations of pharmaceutical consultation

The pharmacist’s role in managing self-limiting health conditions presents challenges related to clinical skills and confidence in providing effective care. The integration of simulations in education is one of the tools to enhance these clinical competencies. This research, conducted in Brasília in 2022, aimed to evaluate the clinical competencies of pharmacy professionals and students through remote realistic simulations, using a validated assessment instrument. The study occurred in three stages: development and provision of educational material with a description of the clinical case; remote realistic simulation of pharmaceutical consultations and peer evaluation; and quantitative analysis of participants’ performance. The research included 96 participants (professionals and students), and 40 clinical simulations were conducted, totaling 1,020 peer evaluations. Predominantly, the evaluations of clinical skills were positive, highlighting ‘verbal communication’ (88.6%), ‘definition of the health problem’ (86.4%), and ‘non-verbal communication’ (85.5%). However, the item on ‘vital signs measurement’ achieved only 57.3% satisfactory performance. Significant improvement in participants’ confidence was observed after accessing the material and simulation. Clinical simulations contribute to the development of clinical competencies, strengthening the capacity for pharmaceutical intervention in managing self-limiting health problems.

Keywords:
pharmaceutical care; pharmaceutical clinical services; community pharmacy; simulation training