High-Fidelity versus Low-Fidelity Simulation Training on Medication-Related Emergencies for Pharmacy Students

Objective Medication-related problems can cause serious adverse drug events, which may contribute to hospital admissions. In response, the role of pharmacists in managing these high-risk situations requires training in medication therapy consultation and emergency response. To adapt the pharmacy curriculum for clinical emergency practice, we developed an immersive simulation-based training course focused on medication-related emergencies and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) to evaluate and train pharmacy students’ consultation and emergency response skills. Material and Methods This randomised pre-post educational study involved 39 pharmacy students (both sexes, aged 22–33) in their 8th semester at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany. Students were recruited through an introductory seminar within a two weeks period. The study was conducted as part of the clinical pharmacy course between November and December 2024. Before and after the respective training, each student went through a simulated emergency case scenario either with High-Fidelity Simulation (HFS) or with Low-Fidelity Simulation (LFS) with paper-based cases and completed a self-assessment questionnaire and a knowledge multiple-choice exam. Results Pharmacy students in both the High-Fidelity Simulation (HFS) and Low-Fidelity Simulation (LFS) groups showed significant improvements in knowledge and self-assessment scores from pre- to post-training. However, there was no significant difference in post-training knowledge exam scores between the two groups. Post-training self-assessment scores in both adult and pediatric simulation scenarios were significantly higher in the HFS group compared to the LFS group. Conclusion These findings suggest that the HFS approach may be more effective in enhancing students’ self-assessment, supporting its use in simulation emergency training.