Pharmacy student-led health education campaign initiative

Background and purpose: To describe the development and assessment of a health education campaign and determine its potential for integration into a bachelor of pharmacy curriculum. Educational activity and setting: Pharmacy students developed a "hands-on" health campaign for delivery to university students. A health promotion topic was chosen and delivered each year for 2015-2017; sexual health, diabetes, and antimicrobial resistance, respectively. All health campaign participants were screened for cardiovascular risk factors. University students who participated in the health campaign in 2017 also completed a questionnaire assessing their understanding and knowledge of antimicrobial resistance. Findings: In the three health campaigns conducted from 2015 to 2017, 1010 university students and adults were screened. Pharmacy students expressed a high level of professional achievement and satisfaction and felt that the activities provided a meaningful learning experience. Similarly, supervising pharmacists reported satisfaction with students' competency. Summary: The use of a health education campaign is an alternative model to educate pharmacy students on communication and critical thinking skills, as well as provide an opportunity for service learning.