Informal and formal learning experiences of LGBTQIA+ care in creating culturally intelligent student pharmacists

Objective: To understand the effect of formal and informal LGBTQIA+ educational experiences on cultural intelligence (CQ) and explore how formal and informal experiences relate to perceived LGBTQIA+ CQ, with CQ defined as the ability to effectively understand, adapt, and work in culturally diverse contexts. Methods: Qualitative data was collected from student pharmacists at one school of pharmacy between May 2024 and July 2024. Participants were invited to share previous LGBTQIA+ education experiences and perceived impacts via semi-structured, virtual focus group discussions. Educational experiences were either considered formal (structured, planned), such as classroom learning, or informal (non-structured, unplanned), such as social media. Deductive and inductive thematic analyses were undertaken to describe type of experience, its relationship to Bloom’s taxonomy, and the depth of CQ demonstrated. Results: Twenty-one participants were involved in the focus group sessions. Commonly reported educational experiences included coursework, pharmacy work or rotation encounters, and social media. Overall, 78% of high-level responses for LGBTQIA+ CQ ( Analyse, Evaluate , and Create on Bloom’s taxonomy) came from participants with more educational experiences (⩾4). Participants with a higher percentage of informal experiences (>50%) had a greater amount of high-level responses on Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (40% of responses), compared to participants with a lower percentage of informal experiences (<50%) who had a lower amount of high-level responses on Bloom’s taxonomy (23% of responses). Participants with more educational experiences (⩾4) perceived informal experiences as being more impactful on their learning compared to formal experiences. Conclusion: Integrating greater opportunities for informal or patient-focused experiences into pharmacy curricula may enable student pharmacists to develop greater LGBTQIA+ CQ. To achieve this, educators should utilise experiential learning principles, encourage co-curricular opportunities, and include LGBTQIA+ topics and voices as part of their teaching and learning materials.