“They wanted to know what it was like through my eyes”: Patients and carers views, experiences, and perceptions of active involvement in the delivery of an undergraduate pharmacy curriculum

Introduction: There is an increasing policy and practice imperative for involving patients and carers in health-related undergraduate courses. The School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences at Robert Gordon's University, United Kingdom launched a module where patients and carers are actively involved in the delivery of the curriculum by sharing their experiences of their condition and its management with final year student pharmacists. This study aimed to evaluate this initiative by exploring patients' and carers' views and experiences of their active involvement in the delivery and their perceptions of potential future involvement in the design of the pharmacy curriculum. Methods: Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were carried out with patients and carers who were actively involved in the delivery of the pharmacy course. The interview schedule was developed based on the research aim, an extensive literature review, and peer discussion before it was piloted. All interviews were digitally recorded and thematically analysed by two independent researchers. Results: Seven of eight patients and carers involved in the module agreed to be interviewed. Five themes were identified: reasons for engagement with active teaching, perceived impact of active teaching on students, perceived impact of active teaching on patients and carers themselves, perceived opportunity to improve care of future patients, and challenges and suggestions for improvement. Conclusions: Overall, patients and carers had a positive view of their active involvement with delivering the undergraduate pharmacy curriculum; they were however unsure about involvement in curriculum design.