Pharmacy Students Using TikTok to Take Learning to the Next Level

The proliferation of social media in almost every aspect of life has become impossible to ignore, and despite attempts to curtail its use among students, it has become increasingly ever-present in their—and their teachers’—lives.

Pharmacy students are no exception. As social media’s popularity continues, integrating the use of platforms into pharmacy student education and advocacy for the field is essential, especially amid the decline of pharmacy student applications and graduating pharmacists.¹

TikTok, Pharmacy, Students, Learning, Social Media | Image Credit: ©Rene La/peopleimages.com | stock.adobe.com

Presenting at a seminar during the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting, Jameshia A. Below, PharmD, assistant professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) College of Pharmacy, shared that 86% of students use social media to access material regarding the subject they are studying, and 78% of students feel that social media enhances their knowledge in a subject matter.²

“As we’re teaching, we need to see what our students are going to respond to,” Below explained.

ALEXIS E. HORACE, PHARMD, BCACP

Alexis E. Horace, PharmD, BCACP, professor of pharmacy practice at ULM, described an activity in which each group of students was assigned a domain that they had to make a TikTok infomercial about—robots, diagnostic testing, and others. The students used the rest of class time to make their videos, and once everyone was finished, came back together to share their creations and vote for the best one.

“I think that was my favorite part because we had so many amazing videos and the students were laughing and they were cheering each other on,” Horace recalled during the seminar. “They became our TikTok influencers.”

Members of one group spoke in a series of interviews about the experience.³ To figure out an idea for their assignment, PharmD and MBA candidate Dylan LeBoeuf used the strategy of “throwing out a bunch of ideas on a wall and seeing what would stick.” He noted that collaboration and utilization of team member strengths—one member was good at video editing whereas others were good at brainstorming—were key to completing the project.

ALESSIA REEVES, PHARMD CANDIDATE

Alessia Reeves, PharmD candidate, was inspired by virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create a hands-on form of learning. After brainstorming several innovative techniques, her group came up with a device they called “Exam AR,” augmented reality–driven glasses that could enhance a student’s learning process through AI and allow students to experience real-life situations they may encounter at work while also providing VR practice exams to better prepare for future courses.

“We basically just thought, what would make students’ lives easier? It does get draining and hard to focus on just lots of words on little slides, so we came up with the idea of something that can put you in a real-life, hands-on situation that you would experience when you’re at work, and we chose a lot of our inspiration from VR and AI technology, which I think pharmacy is going to lean on a lot in the future,” Reeves said in an interview.

TAYLOR HURST, PHARMD CANDIDATE

Taylor Hurst, PharmD candidate, shared that this idea stemmed from the need to gain knowledge on real-world situations that she could encounter as a clinical pharmacist. She noted that Exam AR could place students in a VR situation with an instructor prompting questions or a patient needing counseling—all focusing on interactive learning.

“We practice a lot of patient counseling during school, but we sometimes don’t get enough practice with it. You could just put on these glasses and practice your patient counseling prior to your objective structured clinical examination with someone you don’t know. I think we could all agree it’s easier to practice with someone you don’t know than it is when you’re standing in front of your sibling and they’re just going to laugh at you. So that was our concept behind the whole thing,” Hurst said in an interview.

Fortunately Reeves was well versed in TikTok and familiar with its editing tools, as it is the social media platform she uses most in her learning. “I really can’t speak enough on how much I think [social media benefits] me,” she noted. Reeves’ feed is often filled with pharmacy-related posts summarizing topics learned in school, along with pharmacists sharing their day-to-day lives in the pharmacy, giving Reeves a taste of what she can experience in the profession.

Similarly to Reeves, Hurst uses social media to reinforce what she has learned in the classroom. She notes that social media has a unique way of connecting her to interactive learning that she would not find if not for platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

“It all started with YouTube, and then when TikTok came around, it does the exact same things. There are certain people I follow on TikTok, and they do different reviews of guidelines, new guideline updates, disease state processes, or new drugs—things like that. It’s interesting because I could be scrolling on my TikTok just in my downtime and I am also learning in my free time,” Hurst said.

Through the completion of the project, LeBoeuf had a front-row seat to the changing environment in which new learning models abound. “I’ve learned that it’s definitely doable to have those nontraditional learning projects thrown into a lower-stakes class,” LeBoeuf said. Now he wishes to see these assignments implemented into higher-stakes courses, such as therapeutics.

The group didn’t encounter a lot of difficult obstacles aside from poor school internet connection. Eventually, they were successful in developing their minute-long TikTok infomercial.

One essential aspect of the project—and the one LeBoeuf enjoyed the most—was “recognizing our own weaknesses and strengths in a real-world scenario.” He said that cannot be learned through a screen or a lecture, and that working together on the project provided the group a valuable experience.

Reeves encouraged pharmacy schools to incorporate this style of learning more into the classroom. She said not only is it fun and engaging but it also inspires students to get excited about what they are learning.

“I really enjoyed collaborating with my classmates, bouncing ideas off each other and being creative, especially the social media aspect,” Reeves said. “It gave us a creative outlet, and I also really enjoyed seeing what my classmates came up with as they were posting as well.”

Hurst emphasized the importance of learning in ways that can cater to individual needs. “It’s not always about sitting in a classroom and listening to lectures. If you can come up with a way that works better for you or for your classmates, then I would definitely try to explore it,” she said.

Below and Horace thought the assignment was a major success. “Through the process of creating the video, they were able to learn,” Horace said, noting that they received positive student feedback, including one response that hit home for Horace: “We had so much fun, it did not even feel like learning.”

Pharmacy students should continue to flex their social media muscles throughout the learning process. Not only can social media provide platforms for advocating for the field and learning about other areas of the profession, but it also can serve as a tool to educate others on important issues and reach demographics that previously may have been unreachable.

“Social media is here to stay. It’s not going anywhere,” Horace concluded. “As long as we can utilize it for a force of good by having our students engage in it in a professionally appropriate way, I think we can definitely use it as a way for education to reach…any student, not just the young.”

REFERENCES

1. Antrim A. Despite rapid growth of institutions, pharmacy school applications decline. Pharmacy Times. April 5, 2023. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/despite-rapid-growth-of-institutions-pharmacy-school-applications-decline

2. Below J, Horace A. TikTokED: Navigating higher education with byte-sized brilliance. Presented at: American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting; July 20-23; 2024; Boston, MA. Accessed September 4, 2024.

3. Gallagher A. Pharmacy students discuss learning through social media platforms. Pharmacy Times. September 3, 2024. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/pharmacy-students-discuss-learning-through-social-media-platforms