Importance of Project-Based Learning for Pharmacy Education

Abstract

Project-based learning (PBL) has emerged as a transformative approach in pharmacy education, supporting the development of practice-ready graduates capable of delivering comprehensive pharmaceutical care. This review synthesizes empirical evidence published between 2020 and 2025 demonstrating that PBL significantly enhances learning outcomes, clinical reasoning, interprofessional collaboration, and professional competencies aligned with accreditation standards and contemporary practice demands. Meta-analytic findings show statistically significant improvements across all measured competency domains (p < 0.05), with particularly strong effects in clinical skills such as medication therapy problem identification, application of didactic knowledge to patient care, and clinical communication. Evidence further indicates that PBL improves interprofessional competence, readiness for interprofessional learning, and attitudes toward team-based care, with a pooled standardized mean difference of 0.41. Integration of medication therapy management scaffolding within PBL frameworks yields meaningful gains in student confidence and performance. Overall, PBL supports the development of instrumental, interpersonal, and systemic competencies through authentic clinical problem-solving, mentorship, teamwork, and structured competency assessment. These findings position PBL as essential pedagogy in modern pharmacy education.