Using an electronic portfolio system to create simulated electronic medical records for pharmacy student skills application

Background: Course feedback identified the need for real-world patient assessment skills to facilitate learning in a general medicine elective course. A campus-supported electronic portfolio system was utilised to enhance these skills via novel, faculty-created, simulated electronic medical (sEMR) patient cases within a general medicine elective course. Methods: This IRB-exempt, cross-sectional review evaluated student perceptions after the implementation of sEMR clinical cases in an elective course for third-year pharmacy students. Student perceptions were gathered using an anonymous electronic survey. Faculty interrater reliability for grading student assessments was calculated via the intra-class correlation (ICC) coefficient. Results: Students reported positive experiences related to navigating the sEMR (mean = 4.25, SD = 0.99), ease of access (mean = 4.43, SD = 0.79), and confidence in finding relevant patient data (mean = 4.54, SD = 0.51). Most students preferred using the sEMR compared to traditional documents (mean 4.0, SD 1.06) and strongly recommended that the sEMR model be incorporated during future classes (mean = 4.61, SD = 0.58). Conclusion: The sEMR enabled students to positively experience simulated, interactive patient cases. Student feedback suggests the sEMRs functioned effectively and were well received. This model may be easily implemented at other institutions, and future investigations should evaluate the impact on educational outcomes.