Advancing cultural humility in pharmacy education: Insights from interprofessional experiences for varied learning modalities

Effective pharmacy education requires incorporating interactive and engaging strategies that encourage collaboration among people from diverse backgrounds. Activities that forward cultural humility in combination with interprofessional education (IPE) are beneficial to achieve a comprehensive educational experience for enhanced patient centered care and effective teamwork between colleagues. Moving beyond travel seminars and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs), these goals can be met through numerous educational formats, which can be tailored to the needs of the course using institutional resources available.

Professors at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, have developed and enhanced examples from two courses to advance cultural understanding and IPE. One of these courses was designed as a global classroom experience with professors from Tecnológico de Monterrey in Guadalajara, Mexico between 2016 and 2024. Both institutions value a focus on patient-centered awareness and address social determinants of health through cross-cultural experiences. This article underscores how diverse learning modalities, including in-person, hybrid, and virtual formats, can incorporate varied perspectives and foster interprofessional collaboration in pharmacy education.

Course initiatives have involved partnerships between academic institutions and placed an emphasis on engaging with community organizations both in-person and virtually during students' formative years, with the goal of strengthening cultural humility and awareness of health needs of at-risk populations in their communities and beyond.