Global perspectives of educators and academic leaders on integrating computer-based simulation into pharmacy education

<p>Background: Computer-based simulation (CBS) helps pharmacy students develop critical competencies, such as clinical reasoning, patient communication, and interprofessional collaboration, essential for modern practice. CBS allows learners to engage anytime, anywhere, with consistent scenarios tailored to individual needs, and it can scale to any cohort size. Despite its educational advantages, CBS utilisation in pharmacy education remains limited. This study aimed to fill these gaps by investigating pharmacy education leaders' and educators’ perspectives through semi-structured interviews. This research aimed to deepen understanding of the barriers and facilitators influencing CBS adoption in pharmacy education, offering insights to improve CBS integration.<br>Method: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews to capture insights from pharmacy educators and academic leaders. Out of 41 invited participants, 25 interview responses were analysed using thematic analysis, identifying key themes related to the implementation barriers, facilitators, and future directions for CBS in pharmacy education.<br>Results: The study included 25 participants from 21 countries. While educators and academic leaders identified similar themes, their emphasis differed; educators primarily highlighted practical difficulties encountered in classroom implementation, whereas leaders focused on broader strategic and institutional priorities. Major barriers included workload pressures, limited resources, resistance to change, and doubts regarding CBS’s efficacy in achieving targeted learning outcomes. Conversely, key facilitators encompassed robust institutional support, alignment with educational objectives, and advocacy from dedicated champions. Future recommendations emphasised interdisciplinary collaboration, strategic institutional partnerships, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the scalability, interactivity, and personalisation of CBS tools.<br>Conclusion: This study highlights critical barriers and facilitators for the implementation of CBS in pharmacy practice education, pointing to AI's transformative capacity as a solution to these challenges. AI was particularly identified as a valuable asset for automating assessments, scenario generation, reducing educator workloads, and optimising educational outcomes. Future initiatives should emphasise scalable and evidence-based approaches to fully realise the educational benefits of CBS.</p>