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Assessing resilience in pharmacy education during the COVID-19 era

Al-Haqan, Asmaa; Bates, Ian; Almanasef, Mona; Bajis, Dalia; Alnahar, Saja A; (2025) Assessing resilience in pharmacy education during the COVID-19 era. Scientific Reports , 15 , Article 30084. 10.1038/s41598-025-98410-4. Green open access

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Abstract

In higher education, resilience is vital for enabling students and academics to confront challenges and sustain well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified concerns about how individuals in higher education, including in pharmacy education, adapt to drastic shifts in societal, economic, and educational contexts. This study aimed to explore resilience in pharmacy higher education within the Eastern Mediterranean Region. This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2020 to January 2021, involving pharmacy students and academics across the 22 EMR countries. Data collection utilised an online questionnaire, that included, along with demographic and environmental items, the CD-RISC-22 scale, a modified version of the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25). CD-RISC-22 is a 22 items, a self-administered psychometric scale, tailored to assess resilience among pharmacy students and academics in EMR region. Data were analysed using descriptive and comparative statistical methods. Students exhibited a significantly lower resilience scores (mean ± SD: 58.81 ± 13.41) when compared with academic staff/faculty (66.74 ± 10.29) across all constructs of the CD-RISC-22 scale (p < 0.000), with the exception of the ‘connection/spirituality’ factor (p = 0.1). The availability of mental health support services in educational institutions was found to be limited, with only 13 (10.7%) academic respondents reporting access to a mental health advisory scheme and 88 (17.7%) of students reporting access to mental health and well-being support training. Academics and students felt more supported by their colleagues and peers than by their institutions. This research sheds light on the variations in resilience levels between pharmacy students and academics in the EMR, emphasising the need for targeted interventions to enhance undergraduate students’ resilience.

Type: Article
Title: Assessing resilience in pharmacy education during the COVID-19 era
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-98410-4
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98410-4
Language: English
Additional information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords: Psychological resilience; CD-RISC; Eastern mediterranean region; Pharmacy education; Mental health; COVID-19
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy > Practice and Policy
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10213328
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