Impact of Students' Strengths, Critical Thinking Skills and Disposition on Academic Success in the First Year of a PharmD Program

Objective. To determine the critical thinking skills, critical thinking disposition, and personal strengths that contribute to student success and excellence in the first year of a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program. Methods. Student pharmacists from three cohorts completed the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) to assess their critical thinking skills, the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) to assess their critical thinking disposition, and the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment to determine their top five Signature Themes. HSRT overall categories, CCTDI subcategories, and top five Signature Themes were analyzed to determine both independent predictors and a logistic regression model of success and excellence. Results. HSRT and the Signature Theme of Consistency were independently associated with both success and excellence. CCTDI Open-mindedness and the Signature Themes of Achiever and Learner were also independent predictors of excellence. Age and several Signature Themes were negative independent predictors of success. In a multiple logistic regression model, HSRT overall category and the absence of Signature Themes Command and Woo predicted success and HSRT overall category predicted excellence. Conclusion. This is the first model to determine performance in the first year of PharmD program using Signature Themes. Critical thinking skills, the critical thinking disposition of Open-mindedness and the Signature Themes of Achiever, Consistency, and Learner are associated with the highest student performance.