Identifying students' perceptions of community within and need for an online veterinary pharmacotherapy course

Objective: Veterinary pharmacy is an emerging industry, yet its place within pharmacy curricula is limited. This article describes a newly formed online veterinary pharmacotherapy course, and reports on student perceptions of classroom community and perceived need for this course. Design: Veterinary pharmacotherapy was a two-credit elective offered to third and fourth year pharmacy students, delivered solely online through a Learning Management System. Evaluation of the course was completed through an optional standard course evaluation at the end of the semester, with added questions regarding key components integrated to foster community within the course. Results: Out of 34 students, 14 completed the course evaluation. All students reported they would recommend this course to a classmate. The online nature of the course was viewed favorably with most students indicating it was the reason they were able to take this course. Two main reasons students reported enrolling in the course were a strong interest in animals and a belief that pharmacists should be educated on this important patient population. Weekly topic discussions and e-mails were viewed to have contributed to the sense of community within the course. Conclusion: Veterinary pharmacotherapy course was well received by pharmacy students with weekly e-mails and topic discussions identified as contributing to community within the course. Additionally, students felt that animals were an important patient population for pharmacists to learn about. This particular feedback could be a catalyst for colleges and schools of pharmacy to offer more opportunities for students to learn about this patient population.