Impact of co-curricular involvement on academic success of pharmacy students

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cptl.2019.02.004
• Publication Date: 2019-05-03T17:42:35Z
• Authors: Laura M. Fox; Julie M. Sease
• Keywords: Academic Success; South Carolina; 4. Education; Education, Pharmacy, Graduate; 02 engineering and technology; 16. Peace & justice; Education; Leadership; Students, Pharmacy; 0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering; Humans; Educational Measurement

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in co-curricular activities and academic performance of pharmacy students enrolled in a traditional PharmD program.Pharmacy students self-reported their activities in an online portfolio, allowing calculation of equivalent hours spent in co-curricular pursuits in a given academic year for each student during the six year period. Inferential statistics were used to elucidate the differences in co-curricular engagement by student rank, progression status, and leadership experience as well as differences in grade point average (GPA) by level of co-curricular participation and leadership experience.Participation in co-curricular activities was less for students earning a deficiency than students with satisfactory academic performance. Students who were very engaged in co-curricular activities earned higher GPAs on average and were more likely to hold a leadership position. Leaders earned higher GPAs, were less likely to incur academic deficiencies, and were more involved in all types of co-curricular activities than students who did not hold a leadership position.The results of this study offer evidence in support of the importance of co-curricular involvement to the development of the whole pharmacy student, including academic success. The provision of co-curricular opportunities by pharmacy programs provides personal and professional development opportunities to students and supports deep learning associated with improved academic performance and overall success.