Evaluation of virtual pharmacy students' research symposium

Abstract

Introduction: The Annual Pharmacy Symposium organised by the Department of Pharmacy, University of Malta, Malta, brings together academic staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students, collaborators and stakeholders to discuss outcomes of student research projects as oral and poster presentations. The 2021 Pharmacy Symposium was held online for the first time via the Zoom platform due to restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim was to evaluate student perception of the remote modality used. Method: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to students who attended the symposium at the end of the four-day symposium. Students were asked to rate on a fivepoint Likert scale from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’ with regards to remote environment used and appreciation of the transmission of scientific information in the presentations. Results: Out of 370 students who attended the symposium, 19% (n = 72) completed the questionnaire. Forty-four students were female, and the ages of the students ranged from 18 to 51 years. The majority of students (n = 46) were undergraduate students. The majority of students gave positive feedback (scores of 4 or 5) about the symposium: 71 students felt the virtual symposium was well organised, 69 students agreed that the platform used was appropriate, 66 students agreed that the quality of research presented was of a high standard and 57 students agreed that presentations were understandable and stimulating. Fifty-five students felt that the duration of the oral sessions was appropriate, 40 students enjoyed visiting the virtual poster gallery and 38 students found it easy to access the virtual poster gallery. Conclusions: The virtual pharmacy research symposium was positively evaluated by students indicating that it is a suitable forum to support students in developing competencies in research dissemination and to appreciate ongoing research by other students.