PHCY 3041 – Pharmacy Skills Lab I (PSL I) is a required skills-based course for first year (P1) students in the College of Pharmacy. PSL I introduces the concept of healthcare informatics through a variety of ability-based education projects and activities. PSL I weekly assignments are structured and presented to build upon the previous week’s activities.  Skill development in PSL I is progressive - culminating with a research-based seminar that is presented as a final project for the course. 

With a primary focus of using information and technology to improve the patient-care decision-making process, P1 students are introduced to Healthy People 2010, which is a set of health objectives for the Nation to achieve over the first decade of the new century1. In addition, students explore cultural competence from both an individual and an organization’s perspective and its implication in healthcare delivery. 

P1 students enrolled in PSL I obtain practical experience in the review of information and use of technology/information systems to demonstrate the role of health informatics in the delivery of healthcare, development and support of research efforts and in the education of health professionals and the general public.2

PSL I promotes the development and/or enhancement of both written and oral communication skills.  Student projects are both individualized and group-oriented. The course includes exposure and hands-on practical skill development in the areas of file management, graphing/spreadsheets, database management, components of a research study, literature search, literature review, literature analysis and synthesis.  Technology-based projects include website design and development, presentation graphics, drug-information database management, and manipulation of other health information resources via the Internet.