Experiential learning and community engagement in fostering social entrepreneurship among pharmacy undergraduates

Background: Entrepreneurship is an increasingly indispensable element of higher education due to its potential application in providing sustainable solutions to various social issues. Delivering entrepreneurship education to university students with diverse backgrounds and not just business students require innovative and integrative approaches. Given the lack of social elements in the current entrepreneurship education for pharmacy students, introducing a social entrepreneurship module might be beneficial. The objective of the present study is to develop and evaluate a new module for teaching social entrepreneurial skills to pharmacy students. Methods: This report describes the conception and implementation of an experiential learning module as a student-led community project within the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Kuala Lumpur Campus, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The effectiveness of the one-semester module was analysed via students’ reflection essays on their experiences of participating in the project, and thematic data was coded and summarised. Results: Most students reported gaining organisational and interpersonal skills such as effective communication and teamwork. Notably, some students also developed entrepreneurial skills and social awareness. Conclusion: The outcomes of this study showed that the entrepreneurship module was effective and well received by pharmacy students and may be replicated for effective teaching of entrepreneurship at other universities.