Introduction: Cultural competence is a core professional skill that plays a key role for bridging health inequities among culturally and linguistically diverse populations. However, student receptiveness and perceived relevance of content remains a
challenge for integrating content in the earlier stages of the curriculum. This study evaluates object-based learning (OBL) as a pedagogical approach to stimulate student engagement with cultural competency in undergraduate pharmacy curriculum.
Methods: A bespoke OBL workshop was implemented in a unit of study with 320 first year undergraduate pharmacy students enrolled. Students worked in small teams of 5-6 people, handling a curated collection of health-related art, specimens and artefacts across cultures in a 2-hr workshop. Across three activities, students critically analysed the collection items.
Results: A total of 169 and 66 students responded to the baseline and post-workshop questionnaire respectively, giving rise to 46 matched pairs who were mostly female (63%, n=29) with a mean age of 18.93 (SD =1.36). Nearly half of the respondents self-identified as “Asian” with three quarters speaking a language other than English at home. Significant post-workshop changes were observed in students’ ability to define
cultural competence (Z=-2.236, p = 0.025) as well as their perceived levels of cultural competency advancing from “cultural pre-competency” to “cultural competency” (Z= -
2.524, p = 0.012). At baseline, students endorsed a high level of agreement with respect to the importance of pharmacists providing culturally appropriate care and the relevance of cultural competence to their future pharmacy career which remained unchanged post-workshop.
Conclusion: OBL is a promising approach to introducing concepts of cultural competency to first year pharmacy student cohort. There is scope to expand OBL approaches in other areas of skill development in pharmacy education.

Introduction: Clinical education in pharmacy involves helping students counsel patients and manage pharmacies, both of which face engagement challenges. The use of generative AI was explored as a coach and tutor to enhance student learning and engagement as well as to provide teaching insights. Using the University of Sydney’s Cogniti AI platform, AI agents were developed to create realistic patient counselling scenarios and provide personalised, Socratic-style tutoring.
Methods: Two AI agents were developed: a patient medication counselling coach and a pharmacy management tutor. The medication counselling coach guided students during dispensing classes, offering feedback. Diverse and realistic practice scenarios were generated to avoid rehearsed responses. The pharmacy management tutor was integrated into Canvas. It provided timely, Socratic responses to student inquiries enhancing understanding.
Results: The medication counselling coach enabled students to engage in dynamic and realistic interactions, closely simulating real-world patient interactions and provided the teaching team with valuable insights into the students understanding. This approach prepared students for the Australian Pharmacy Council’s case-based discussions. The pharmacy management tutor addressed student inquiries effectively, promoting critical thinking and understanding of financial concepts. High engagement was observed, with almost 100% usage in the pharmacy management course and a significant increase in USS response rates.
Discussion: The iterative development process involved refining AI prompts based on student feedback. The AI agents transformed the learning experience, encouraging students to think critically and engage deeply with the material. The dynamic and interactive nature of the AI was well-received, with students appreciating its impact on traditionally challenging topics.
Conclusion: The integration of AI coaches in pharmacy education significantly enhanced student engagement and learning outcomes. The AI agents provided realistic practice scenarios and personalized tutoring, preparing students for real-world pharmacy practice. Positive student feedback highlights the potential of AI in transforming pharmacy education

Introduction: AI is being increasingly used in pharmacy care and education. However, there is limited literature on the relationship between AI use and students’ intrinsic motivation (internal psychological needs of satisfaction that drive you to do your work) and self-efficacy (individual’s judgment of how well they believe they can execute different academic tasks). This study aimed to explore the impact of AI use on pharmacy students’ self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation to inform educational policy and practice.
Methods: Questionnaire composed of demographic, Likert-scale and open-ended questions completed by students via RedCAP and semi-structured qualitative interviews with pharmacy students and educators.
Results: Seventeen Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) students (82% female) completed the questionnaire. Interviews were conducted with 7 BPharm students and 10 educators. Survey results indicated significant differences in the impact of different platforms on intrinsic motivation and the highest impact of AI is on learning strategies which assist skill development (e.g. saving time in research or gaining clarity from lecture content such as pharmacology concepts); lowest impact was observed in enhancing participation and connection with peers and teachers. Findings were triangulated between interviews, survey results and the literature. Participants were most positive towards the effect of AI use on competence and least positive towards its impact on relatedness. Ethical concerns included accuracy and reliability of information provided by AI, lack of references for information provided and lack of clear guidelines from institutions on how AI should be used.
Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first in-depth exploration of pharmacy student and educator views on the impact of AI on their intrinsic motivation and academic self-efficacy. Key implications for practice include thoughtful assessment design to minimise misuse, appropriate training for students and educators on effective use, and guidelines on best use of different platforms to optimise student learning and academic outcomes.

Introduction: Pharmacists often encounter high stress levels due to burnout, professional uncertainties, and heavy workloads. Similarly, pharmacy students face significant stressors such as assignments, placements, exams, and rising living costs, which can negatively impact their academic performance and well-being. Resilience, defined as the ability to recover from adversity, is positively linked to psychological well-being and a higher quality of life and has been shown to enhance stress responses in various academic and professional settings. The value of incorporating resilience in pharmacy education is to equip students with skills to develop resilience, for their growth as students and future pharmacists in the ever-changing environments within healthcare.  
Methods: Students from The University of Sydney and the University of Minnesota took part in an interactive 30-45 minute class focused on developing resilience knowledge and skills. Educators stressed that developing resilience requires practice. A mixed-method structure was designed, including pre- and post-class surveys to self-assess student learning and educational impact, measuring the value, confidence, and ability of pharmacy students regarding the development of resilience.
Results: Qualitative analysis of questions from the pre- and post-survey generated themes such as Spirituality/Faith, Support/Collaboration, Time Management/Planning/Goal Setting, and Mindset/Attitude/Self-awareness. Quantitative analysis of the survey data, using a paired mean test, showed that students experienced an increase in how they value, develop, and maintain resilience. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test confirmed the statistical significance of these improvements.
Conclusion: The study highlights the role of resilience in managing the stressors faced by pharmacists and pharmacy students. The interactive session demonstrated that structured resilience training significantly enhances students’ ability to value, develop, and maintain resilience. Incorporating resilience-building techniques into pharmacy student education encourages improved navigation of challenges in pharmacy practice, well-being and professional performance. This approach underscores the importance of lifelong learning in fostering resilience and adaptability in the pharmacy profession.

Introduction: Since the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI, tertiary institutes and academics have increasingly been concerned about widespread over-reliance of GenAI tools by undergraduate students, particularly in the absence of critical evaluation of AI output. Here, we evaluate undergraduate students GenAI literacy, and current use in their university studies. We then investigated student perceptions and use of AI in assessments.
Methods: The project involved students completing one summative assessment requiring varying degrees of GenAI use. The cohorts involved were second-year Laboratory Medicine and Biomedical Science students enrolled in a Genetics course, and third-year Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science students enrolled in Dosage Form Design 4. The data was obtained using mixed methods for quantitative and qualitative data using opt-in anonymous Likert-scale surveys and de-identified incentivised focus groups deployed before and after the assessment completion.
Results: Before undertaking the assessment task, students reported some use of GenAI to simplify complex concepts and save time, mainly for study materials and assessments. While this was seen as efficient, students expressed concerns about accuracy, privacy (confidentiality), and inadequate university support, with one student stating, "It helps me understand by explaining things in the most basic way." After the assessment, students reported GenAI as beneficial for tasks like report writing and presentations, however, they expressed concerns about evaluation complexity and plagiarism. While students found their prompting skills improved, they expressed a desire for clearer university guidelines on acceptable AI use.
Conclusion: This project highlights the need to continually engage with students in higher education around the affordances of available AI tools, providing further insights into current student perceptions and use of GenAI. This project will guide development of assessment activities that will foster GenAI literacy skills for student in Medical and Pharmaceutical Science programs at the University of South Australia.

Introduction: Advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized pharmacy education, including the development of continuing pharmacy education (CPE). Recognizing concerns surrounding AI-generated content validity and the ethical use of AI, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) initiated exploratory work to better understand the perspectives of CPE providers on the use of AI within CPE.
Methods: This study evaluated current use of AI by CPE providers using a cross-sectional survey distributed in October 2023 to 260 CPE providers. The survey consisted of seven items collecting information on organizational policies related to AI, AI current and future uses, training provided to faculty and staff related to AI, and educational needs related to AI. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were calculated for quantitative response items and open-ended comments were analyzed using content analysis to identify common trends in AI use.
Results: A total of 39 responses were received, resulting in a response rate of 15%. Only one respondent (2.7%) reported having an AI policy or framework in place. While most respondents reported their organizations were not currently using AI, some respondents indicated that they used AI throughout the activity development process to begin developing learning objectives, needs assessments, and content outlines. Several respondents reported that while they currently do not provide AI training/guidance, language within faulty guidance materials for disclosing the use of AI to learners is being developed. Many providers requested additional education and examples of how AI could be used in CE and best practices for navigating appropriate AI use.
Conclusions: With limited policies currently in place and the request for additional education on AI use, CPE providers need additional support to navigate the appropriate use of AI in CPE development. As such, ACPE has developed AI guidance and education for CPE providers with an additional AI survey planned for 2025.