Learning Through Experience: Analyzing the Impact of Short Study Abroad Programs from the Students' Own Words.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine what students participating in short study abroad program (SSAP) elective courses learned during their experiences and if they satisfied the course learning objectives.

Methods: University of Florida College of Pharmacy students who participated in an SSAP to Scandinavia in the years 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018 wrote digital journals describing their experiences. This study used inductive and deductive thematic analysis to analyze the journals and identify codes and themes.

Results: Four cohorts with a total of 39 student journals were analyzed leading to 11 themes being identified. Example themes included Differences in Pharmacy Practice, Differences in Pharmacy Law/Processes, Differences in Pharmacy Education/Training, and History/Culture. These themes were then mapped to the course objectives, and all course objectives were deemed to be fulfilled.

Conclusion: Students participating in one College's SSAPs over 4 years through their own words demonstrated a better understanding of health care, pharmacy, and culture as it exists in one or more foreign countries and were able to meet the course objectives.