Students’ Views Of A Novel Pharmacy Simulation Program : A Mixed-Methods Survey Study

Introduction MyDispense is an open-source, high-fidelity, low stakes, web-based community pharmacy simulation which allows students to develop their dispensing and counselling skills. During the 2025/26 academic year, University College Cork (UCC) School of Pharmacy integrated MyDispense into first- and second-year pharmacy practice modules.
Aim The aim of this study was to investigate learners' views and experiences of MyDispense within an Irish university setting.
Methods First- and second-year pharmacy students (n=155) enrolled at UCC during the 2025/26 academic year were invited to participate in a mixed-methods survey study to gather student perceptions of MyDispense. Quantitative Likert-Scale responses were analysed in MS Excel using descriptive statistics. Open-ended questions were analysed in Excel via open-coding and Braun and Clarke reflexive thematic analysis. MyDispense usage reports were also imported into MS Excel to measure student engagement with the platform.
Results Of 155 students, a total of 115 (74%) used the platform and of these students 96 (68%) agreed to participate in the study. Nearly all first-year (Y1 : 83%) and second year (Y2 : 87%) found MyDispense to be an interesting and engaging learning experience. Students agreed/strongly agreed that MyDispense increased confidence in clinical skills, such as patient counselling (81% Y1 ; 87% Y2) and medication dispensing (79% Y1; 97% Y2). Most students strongly agreed that MyDispense helped to prepare them for future placement and exams, however, only two-thirds of first- and second-year students agreed/strongly agreed that MyDispense helped prepare them for future practice as a pharmacist. Despite this, 82% of first year and 89% of second year student agreed/strongly agreed that they would like to use MyDispense in the future. Open-ended responses were mapped to three overarching themes; 1) Realism without Risk, 2) Experiential Learning Support, and 3) Student Accessibility and Onboarding.
Conclusion While the outcome of this study highlights that students have a highly positive perception of MyDispense as a learning aid, further research is warranted to investigate the effectiveness of the platform in clinical pharmacy courses via correlation of MyDispense exercise completion and exam scores in order to measure its impact in meeting defined learning outcomes.

Keywords MyDispense, computer-based simulation, pharmacy education, pharmacy students.