7. Problem Solving in community Practice

7.4 Student Opinions on Problem Solving Package As in the examination of the Guinea Pig Ileum package, this section will consider package design and content issues that have been raised by students during discussion groups and on questionnaires. Things that were easy to grasp: "All of the package is relevant and easy to understand" - Questionnaire response - Cardiff "The labelling requirements were very well worded and much easier to grasp than the legal section on labels in the Medics & Ethics Guide" - Questionnaire response - Brighton "What should be legally on a prescription. What form a label should take" - Questionnaire response - Brighton "It broke the scripts down into little bits which made the prescriptions easier to understand" - Discussion group - Bath Things they liked: "It tends to be more concise" - Discussion group - Bath "Important information points were highly emphasised" - Questionnaire response - Cardiff "I did like the GIVE-UP option" - Discussion group - Cardiff "Legal Requirements - in a more challenging way i.e. - not just learning from a book - we had to think about exceptions" - Questionnaire response - Brighton "I liked the testing part" - Discussion group - Cardiff Students were generally very happy with the Prescriptions and Labels sections and the bank of test questions was particularly singled out as helpful. Students particularly singled out the way the prescriptions were broken down, as an area where the CAL was more helpful than other media such as books. The way the package shows legal requirements is also pointed out as beneficial. There were very few comments about Patient Information Leaflets which is further evidence that students see this section as less relevant for them. Things they disliked or found difficult: " Sometimes I got confused with which sections I've done" - Questionnaire response - Bath "Patient Information Leaflet Requirements" - Questionnaire response - Brighton "CONTINUE button should come on at the same time as the first "layer" (of a page) so that you can click on it when you're ready" - Discussion group - Bath "I feel it is difficult to tell the computer what one thinks is wrong with a script. It is very frustrating knowing what is wrong with a prescription but being unable to inform the computer of this" - Questionnaire response - Brighton "It's hard when there's a gap (on a prescription). You were pressing all over the screen. Maybe as well as Incompatible and Incomplete you could have Missing Information - Discussion group - Cardiff "On some of the prescriptions it was obvious what was wrong but not obvious where to click (especially the private ones)" - Questionnaire response - Bath "Weren't sure if, e.g. quantity missing on (prescription) to click on space or drug" - Questionnaire response - Cardiff "The last page of every section always seems very pointless. You know there'll be nothing on it, so what's the point of having it" - Discussion group - Bath There are clearly some difficulties with the interaction on prescriptions, especially where the student must click on a gap to signal missing information. The suggestion about a box labelled Missing Information might be worth considering as these prescriptions obviously led to a lot of frustration in most groups. There was also a number of comments about the speed of multi-layered displays which pause before adding the "Continue" button and therefore making quick readers wait even longer. Things that would help: "More information on what happens to prescriptions once dispensed i.e. how the pricing bureau works and when pharmacists receive payment etc. as this is not covered in lectures and would be useful to know" - Questionnaire response - Cardiff "Could have been more comprehensive/detailed on the prescriptions e.g. endorsements, what the pharmacist has to do with the completed prescription" - Questionnaire response - Brighton "Good, may have been helpful to evaluate scores at the end of the activity for personal use." - Questionnaire response - Bath "About an hour more would have enabled a more complete use of the 3 packages" - Questionnaire response - Bath