ArticleBMC medical education2026
The application of MyDispense as virtual simulation in pharmacy education in a non-prescription drugs and self-care course: a prospective mixed-method study.
Article in BMC medical education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSimulation-based learning has become an important component of pharmacy education, providing safe and standardized environments for skill development. MyDispense, a free, web-based pharmacy simulation platform, has gained global adoption for teaching dispensing skills, clinical decision-making, and patient counseling. However, most evidence on its impact originates from Western settings, with limited evaluation in Middle Eastern contexts where pharmacy practice regulations and curricular structures differ. Understanding the impact of MyDispense within the Saudi educational environment is therefore important to ensure its contextual relevance and effective curricular integration. This study aims to assess the impact of MyDispense on the development of dispensing skills in pharmacy students and explore their perceptions of using the application in the Non-Prescription Drug and Self-Care (NPD-SC) course.
methodsThis study employs both interventional and observational approaches to achieve its objectives. Phase 1 was an interventional study designed to assess students' performance and skills development before and after the implementation of MyDispense in the NPD-SC course. Phase 2 was a non-interventional, post-experience online survey aimed at exploring students' perceptions of the effectiveness and usability of MyDispense.
resultsA total of 119 third-year pharmacy students completed the pre- and post-test assessments in Phase 1, demonstrating a significant increase in mean scores, which indicates improved assessed skills in dispensing and communication. In Phase 2, 104 students completed the survey, expressing positive perceptions of MyDispense as an effective and engaging learning tool. Students rated the application's realism and its help in understanding the steps of OTC medication dispensing highly. The "Application Effectiveness" domain received the highest rating, followed by "General Appreciation", showing strong agreement about its positive effect on learning outcomes. No significant differences were observed across GPA, usage frequency, or resource utilization in students' perception scores, except for gender, with female students rating overall appreciation and perceived effectiveness significantly higher than males.
conclusionThe findings of this study highlight MyDispense as an effective and equitable learning tool, owing to its freely available and easily accessible nature which benefits students. Continued integration of blended instructional approaches, supported by sufficient institutional resources, is recommended to meet the intended learning outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.