Predictors of the Results of Pharmacy Licensure Examination for the First Time among Pharmacy Students of Prince of Songkla University

Abstract

Objective: To identify factors related to the results of the Pharmacy License Examination in the first time among pharmacy students of Prince of Songkla University (PSU). Method: The subjects were pharmacy students of PSU in the classes of 2016 and 2017, both in pharmaceutical care (PC) and industrial pharmacy (IP) programs. The dependent variables were the results of the exams according to the core competency criteria (CC), both test of knowledge with multiple choice questions (called CC1) and test of professional skills (CC2), and those according to specific competency criteria in PC and IP, both test of knowledge with multiple choice questions (PC1 and IP1, respectively) and test of professional skills (PC2 and IP2, respectively). The predictive factors were year of admission, gender, program of study, admission methods (admis), cumulative GPA in high school, cumulative GPA over 4 academic years (GPA-4 years for CC exams) or cumulative GPA over 5 academic years (GPA-5 years for PC and IP exams) and grades of 4-5 courses identified by faculties in the Faculty of Pharmacy as having the content consistent with that of exams. Data analysis was conducted using multiple logistic regression. Receiver operating characteristic curve technique was used to determine the appropriate cutoff point. Results: Among 244 subjects who took the CC exam, 92.7, 82.8 and 80.3% of them passed the CC1, CC2, and overall CC exams (passing both CC1 and CC2), respectively. Statistically significant factors predicting overall CC exam results were GPA-4 years and the admission method. An increase of 0.1 unit in GPA-4 years was associated with the increased chance of passing the overall CC exam by 1.54 times. Students who were admitted based on the score of entrance exam (admis=1) had a 3.44 times higher chance of passing the CC exam than those admitted without the consideration of such scores (admis=0). The predictive equation, (4.5*GPA-4 years) + 1.20 admission, with a cut-off score of 14.35 exhibited sensitivity and specificity of 75 and 73 percent respectively. Among 98 students taking the PC exam, 91.8, 98.0 and 89.8% passed the PC1, PC2 and overall PC exams, respectively. The only significant predictor of the overall PC exam results was grade in the course of Pharmacotherapy and Pharmacy Practice 4. Cut-off points at grade C+ showed a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 70%. Among 132 students taking the IP exam, 95.5, 99.3, and 94.7% passed the IP1, IP2, and IP exams, respectively. The significant predictor of overall IP exam results was GPA-5 years. The cut-off point at grade 3.12 showed a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 71%. Conclusion: Significant predictive factors of the overall CC exam results were GPA-4 years and admission methods. Predictive factor for the overall PC exam results was grade in Pharmacotherapy and Pharmacy Practice 4, while that of the overall IP exam results was GPA-5 years. Faculty of Pharmacy can use these factors to set up a system to provide support for students at risk of failing the exams.