The influence of pharmacy education on students' moral development at a school of pharmacy in the USA

Objectives The aim was to assess the relationship between moral development and pharmacy education at a small, private pharmacy school located in the south‐eastern region of the USA. Corollary objectives were to assess the impact, if any, of gender, age and grade point average on moral development. Methods Seventy‐one pharmacy students' moral reasoning was assessed during a 2‐week orientation before the beginning of first‐year classes in August 2006, and again after finishing didactic requirements for the Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD) at the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy in April 2009. Key findings A paired t‐test revealed that significant growth in moral reasoning occurred during their didactic pharmacy education. The class mean N2% score in August 2006 was 38.68 compared with 42.32 in April 2009 (P < 0.01). Based on independent t‐tests and Pearson correlations, there were no significant differences in the sample between age and N2% score, and between grade point average and N2% score. Conclusions The findings reveal that the students at University of Charleston School of Pharmacy experienced significant moral growth during the three didactic years of the pharmacy curriculum. As concluded in previous studies within the health professions, females scored significantly higher than males on moral reasoning in both the first and second assessment.