Evaluating generic skills through the PROG test in Japanese pharmacy education: A pilot study

The Progress Report On Generic Skills (PROG) test has been used to assess
generic skills in a variety of educational programs in Japan. It
categorizes generic skills as either literacy or competency. Literacy
involves applying previously acquired knowledge, while competency includes
proper interaction with the environment. We aimed to examine student
progression using the PROG test through a pharmacy program from the first
year through the fifth year. Undergraduate student pharmacists
undertook the PROG test three times: in their first year (July 2019),
before their on-site clinical internship in the fifth year (May 2023), and
after the five-month clinical internship (December 2023). The scores of
the three tests were compared to assess the outcomes of the on-campus
didactic education and those of the clinical internship. During
the on-campus didactic education from the first year to the fifth year,
both literacy and competency scores decreased (5.0 to 4.7, p = 0.468, r =
0.257; 2.4 to 1.9, p = 0.042, r = 0.693, respectively). During the
clinical internship, on the other hand, literacy improved (4.9 to 5.7; p =
0.009, r = 0.679) while the competency reduced (2.0 to 1.9; p = 0.773, r =
not calculated). The PROG test scores may reflect changes in students’
generic skills through their education program, suggesting that it holds
potential for evaluating educational outcomes and providing educators with
feedback to improve the efficacy of their educational programs.