Adaptive and longitudinal pharmaceutical care instruction using an interactive voice response/text-to-speech system.

OBJECTIVES: To develop a course structure that would more closely simulate the actual provision of pharmaceutical care.
DESIGN: An interactive voice response/text-to-speech system (hardware and software) for obtaining patient data was designed and used in a pharmaceutical care laboratory. Students called the system to collect data, listen to progress notes, make recommendations, and update the pharmaceutical care plan for virtual patients. Laboratory time was utilized to evaluate patient progress and respond to recommendations as well as to identify and solve drug-related problems. ASSESSMENT: Students' recorded communications with the system and completed care plans were evaluated and a competency-based final examination was administered. Peer evaluations and course evaluations were administered.
CONCLUSION: This innovative approach challenged students and promoted interactive learning. Student evaluations indicated we achieved our objective of creating a course that more closely simulated the actual provision of pharmaceutical care.