Closing the Readiness Gap in Pharmacy Education
A framework for identifying knowledge and learning-skill gaps before they become formal remediation issues — adapted from a recent Exam Master webinar “Closing the Readiness Gap in Pharmacy Education.”
Note: While the webinar this post is based on was focused on Pharmacy education, and the post below refers to PharmD programs specifically, the framework laid out in this blog post applies across Graduate health science education, and beyond.
Much of my work involves talking directly with graduate health science faculty and program leaders about where students are struggling, how programs are catching it, and what happens after a need is identified. One pattern comes up often enough that I think it’s worth writing down.
When students struggle early in a fast-paced curriculum, it’s tempting to attribute it to “not enough preparation.” Most of us have done it, me included. But, as we know, the reality is more nuanced: readiness gaps in education come from two different sources — gaps in foundational content knowledge and gaps in learning skills — and closing them earlier requires telling the two apart before a student reaches formal remediation. That distinction, and the framework I want to walk through here, is what the rest of this post covers.
Students entering pharmacy programs arrive through different academic pathways. They may have technically completed the same prerequisites, but the depth and rigor in undergraduate education varies significantly. Additionally, some finished biochemistry, chemistry, or math recently, others haven’t touched that material in years.
At the same time, they’re adjusting to the pace and volume of professional education, which requires a stronger study routine that many didn’t have an opportunity to develop in their undergraduate courses. None of this means these students lack ability or motivation. More often, they simply haven’t yet developed the specific processes that this environment demands.
Content Gaps and Learning-Skill Gaps Are Different
This is one of the most important distinctions in pharmacy student support: is a struggling student having trouble because of what they know, or how they’re learning?
Content Readiness vs. Learning Readiness
| Content Readiness | Learning Readiness | |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | What students know | How students learn |
| Domain | Prerequisite sciences and math | Study planning and time management |
| How it's identified | Baseline assessment | Behavior and performance patterns |
| How it's addressed | Review and practice | Strategy and reflection |
A content-readiness problem involves retained knowledge in the prerequisite sciences, math, or statistics — identifiable through diagnostic or baseline assessment, and addressed through focused review and practice. A learning-readiness problem looks different: the student may follow the material fine during lecture, but falls back on passive study strategies afterward, struggles to plan their week, prepare for cumulative exams, or recognize that a once-reliable strategy has stopped working.
These problems often overlap, but they aren’t interchangeable. More content will not repair an ineffective study process, and time-management coaching will not replace foundational knowledge that’s genuinely missing. Effective early intervention starts with diagnosing the right problem.
What Unaddressed Readiness Gaps Cost Programs
Left unaddressed, readiness gaps tend to follow a predictable chain: early academic difficulty leads to increasing remediation, which raises progression concerns, which pulls faculty time into individualized support, all while the curriculum keeps moving. There’s a human cost running alongside the academic one: students who entered the program confident in their ability can begin questioning whether they belong, often before anyone has formally intervened. By the time support arrives, faculty may be addressing both the original academic gap and the lost confidence that followed it.
Remediation is essential. But it doesn’t it doesn’t have to be the first organized response a struggling student receives.
Programs need a defined, documented mechanism for detecting readiness gaps before they escalate into the kind of academic difficulty that triggers formal remediation.
A Framework With Three Points of Intervention
This creates three natural opportunities for proactive support, arranged along a continuum rather than a single moment:
- Before matriculation — identify and address foundational knowledge gaps while the academic stakes are still relatively low.
- At matriculation and throughout the curriculum — develop the durable learning skills (planning, active study, exam preparation, reflection, self-directed learning) that hold up under sustained academic pressure.
- When difficulty emerges — provide targeted support based on early indicators (a baseline result, early quizzes, assignment patterns, a first exam, a shift in behavior) before a student reaches the point of formal remediation.
Exam Master’s two pharmacy-focused programs are built around exactly these two opportunities: Basic Science Pre-Matriculation addresses point one, and the Student Success Program addresses points two and three.
Program One: Basic Science Pre-Matriculation
The Basic Science Pre-Matriculation Program addresses the content-readiness side of the equation, with four purposes: establish a foundational baseline, provide structured prerequisite review, give programs a cohort-level picture of incoming knowledge gaps, and begin all of this before the first high-stakes P1 assessment. It’s a readiness tool, not a label or a form of remediation — designed to help students start from a stronger position.
A Structured Path From Baseline to Capstone
Students move through a defined sequence:
Baseline assessment → Targeted learning modules → Knowledge checks → Summative assessments → Capstone assessment
The current program covers nine foundational subject areas across 55 hours of self-paced content:
Estimated Study Hours by Subject
| Subject | Hours |
|---|---|
| Time Management | 1.00 |
| Anatomy | 12.25 |
| Physiology | 7.00 |
| General Biology | 2.25 |
| Microbiology | 5.75 |
| General Chemistry | 4.50 |
| Organic Chemistry | 3.00 |
| Biochemistry | 6.00 |
| Math | 5.00 |
| Statistics | 3.75 |
| Critical Thinking | 1.00 |
| Medical Terms | 3.75 |
| Total | 55.25 |
Where Student Success Can Fit
There’s no single implementation model. Programs have introduced it: required before orientation, incorporated into orientation, delivered during the first semester, assigned after early-warning indicators, built into an individualized support plan, or made available throughout the curriculum. A universal rollout reduces stigma and gives everyone shared language; a targeted rollout concentrates resources on students with an identified need. Many programs blend the two.Two Sides of Readiness, Side by Side
| Pre-Matriculation | Student Success | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Foundational knowledge | Learning and performance skills |
| Timing | Begins before matriculation | Begins before or during the program |
| Identifies | Subject-level knowledge gaps | Transferable learning strategies |
| Approach | Structured content review | Application to current demands |
| Data produced | Baseline and progress information | Reflection, strategy, and behavior change |
The two programs are complementary, not interchangeable — a student may need science review, a stronger learning process, or both. Together, they help a program support more of the whole student: not just the information they’re expected to know, but the process they use to learn, perform, and adapt.
Building a Proactive Support Model
A proactive support model isn’t a single assessment or product — it’s a continuous cycle with four parts:
- Identify earlier — using pre-matriculation readiness information, early assessments, student behavior, faculty observations, or several indicators together.
- Intervene appropriately — matching the response to the source of the difficulty, since content gaps and learning-skill gaps call for different interventions.
- Monitor progress — completing a module or meeting with an advisor isn’t the endpoint; the program needs to know whether the student is applying the intervention and whether the pattern is actually changing.
- Adjust support — some students respond quickly, others need more practice, coaching, a different strategy, or the program’s formal remediation process.
Early support doesn’t replace remediation. It builds a stronger bridge to remediation when remediation is needed, and it may prevent some students from reaching that point at all.
Five Questions to Take Back to Your Program
These are the same five questions I ask program leaders when this topic comes up in conversation:
- What is already working in your program?
- When are struggling students typically identified?
- How do you distinguish content difficulty from a learning-strategy problem?
- What prevents earlier intervention?
- Where could pre-matriculation or student success support fit?
A Low-Pressure Path Forward
Student readiness isn’t one problem with one solution. Some students need help rebuilding foundational knowledge. Others need to develop learning strategies that match the pace and complexity of graduate medical education. Many need both — and programs don’t need to wait for formal remediation to start providing structured support.
Earlier information, better diagnosis, and appropriately matched intervention create more options for the student and reduce some of the reactive burden on faculty. If either program may be relevant to your incoming cohort, reach out — I’m happy to walk through implementation options with you and talk through how it fits the support structure you already have.
Thank you for reading.
References and Further Reading
Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. Standards 2025, especially Standards 4.4.a and 4.4.b, effective July 1, 2025.
Wittstrom, K. M., Godwin, D. A., & Bleske, B. E. (2020). Intervention and remediation: A descriptive study of practices in pharmacy education. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning.
Stratton, T. P., et al. (2023). Detection of Academic Early Warning Signs and Effective Intervention “Takes a Village”. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.
Maize, D. F., et al. (2010). A Review of Remediation Programs in Pharmacy and Other Health Professions. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 74(2).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is student readiness in pharmacy education?
Student readiness refers to how prepared students are to meet the academic demands of a PharmD program. Readiness includes both foundational content knowledge and the learning skills needed to manage the pace, volume, and complexity of professional education.
Students may enter pharmacy school having completed similar prerequisites but with different levels of retained knowledge and different experiences with rigorous coursework. Identifying these differences early can help programs provide appropriate support before academic difficulty becomes a formal remediation issue.
What is the difference between a content gap and a learning-skills gap?
A content gap relates to what a student knows. This may include gaps in prerequisite areas such as anatomy, physiology, chemistry, biochemistry, math, or statistics. Content gaps can often be identified through baseline or diagnostic assessment and addressed through focused review and practice.
A learning-skills gap relates to how a student learns. A student may understand material during class but struggle with study planning, time management, active learning, exam preparation, or recognizing when a study strategy is no longer effective.
The two can occur together, but they require different responses. More content review will not necessarily correct an ineffective learning process, just as study-skills coaching cannot replace foundational knowledge that is genuinely missing.
Why might students who performed well as undergraduates struggle in pharmacy school?
Strategies that worked in undergraduate education do not always scale to the pace and volume of a professional pharmacy curriculum.
Students may also arrive through different academic pathways, have varying levels of prerequisite preparation, or have completed foundational science courses several years before entering pharmacy school. As a result, early difficulty does not necessarily indicate a lack of ability or motivation. It may signal that a student needs to strengthen foundational knowledge, adapt their learning strategies, or both.
How can pharmacy programs identify readiness gaps before students struggle?
Programs can use multiple sources of information to identify potential concerns earlier, including pre-matriculation baseline assessments, early quizzes and examinations, assignment patterns, student behavior, and faculty observations.
The goal is not simply to identify students who are struggling. Programs also need to determine why difficulty is occurring so that the intervention matches the underlying need.
What is the role of pre-matriculation programs in pharmacy education?
Pre-matriculation programs can help identify and address foundational knowledge gaps before students encounter the high academic stakes of the PharmD curriculum.
A structured program can provide students with baseline information about their strengths and gaps, targeted review of prerequisite material, and opportunities to demonstrate progress. At the cohort level, the resulting information can also help faculty identify areas that may warrant reinforcement or closer monitoring after matriculation.
Pre-matriculation support is best viewed as a readiness strategy rather than remediation.
What learning skills are especially important for pharmacy students?
Students need learning strategies that can withstand the sustained demands of professional education. Important areas include active studying, time management, managing competing demands, examination preparation and test-taking, using assessment feedback, reflection, and self-directed learning.
The long-term goal is not simply to give students a collection of study tips. It is to help them develop the ability to recognize when an approach is not working, select a more appropriate strategy, apply it to their coursework, evaluate the result, and adjust independently.
How can pharmacy programs help students develop stronger study skills?
Study-skills support is most useful when students apply strategies directly to the coursework they are currently learning.
Rather than treating study skills as a one-time workshop, programs can reinforce learning strategies throughout the curriculum. Students can be encouraged to examine how they prepare, distinguish familiarity from mastery, use active rather than passive study methods, analyze assessment performance, and make intentional changes based on the results.
Repeated application helps move students toward greater independence and self-directed learning.
How is early intervention different from remediation?
Early intervention occurs when signs of difficulty first emerge, before a student necessarily reaches the threshold for formal remediation.
For example, a baseline assessment, early quiz, first examination, assignment pattern, or change in student behavior may indicate that additional support is needed. Programs can then determine whether the difficulty stems primarily from foundational knowledge, learning strategies, or a combination of the two.
Early intervention does not replace remediation. Instead, it creates an opportunity to address smaller problems sooner and provides a stronger bridge to formal remediation when it is ultimately needed.
When should student-success support begin?
Student-success support does not have to wait until a student is struggling. It can begin before orientation, during orientation, in the first semester, after an early-warning indicator, as part of an individualized support plan, or as an available resource throughout the curriculum.
Programs may choose a universal approach, a targeted approach, or a combination of both. Universal implementation can establish shared expectations and language around learning, while targeted support allows programs to concentrate additional resources where a specific need has been identified.
How can pharmacy schools build a more proactive student-support model?
A proactive model can be organized around a continuous four-part cycle:
- Identify earlier — use readiness information, early assessments, student behavior, faculty observations, or multiple indicators together.
- Intervene appropriately — distinguish between content and learning-skill gaps and match support to the underlying need.
- Monitor progress — determine whether students are actually applying the intervention and whether performance or behavior is changing.
- Adjust support — provide additional practice, coaching, a different strategy, or formal remediation when necessary.
The objective is not to eliminate remediation. It is to create more opportunities to support students before academic difficulty escalates to that point.
How do Exam Master's Pre-Matriculation and Student Success programs address readiness?
Exam Master’s Basic Science Pre-Matriculation Program focuses primarily on content readiness. It establishes a foundational baseline, provides structured prerequisite review, identifies individual and cohort-level knowledge gaps, and allows students to begin strengthening foundational knowledge before high-stakes coursework begins.
The Student Success Program, developed by Exam Master in partnership with Dr. Scott Massey, focuses on learning and performance skills. It helps students develop and apply strategies related to active learning, time management, examination preparation, assessment feedback, reflection, and self-directed learning.
The programs are complementary rather than interchangeable. A student may need foundational review, stronger learning strategies, or both.
What questions should pharmacy programs ask about their current approach to student readiness?
Programs examining their student-support structure can begin with five questions:
- What is already working in our program?
- When are struggling students typically identified?
- How do we distinguish content difficulty from a learning-strategy problem?
- What prevents us from intervening earlier?
- Where could pre-matriculation or student-success support fit within our existing curriculum and support structure?
These questions can help programs move from a primarily reactive model toward a more intentional approach to readiness, early intervention, and student support.