Overall comments:

Overall, this study looks to show the importance of a curriculum changes and their impact on OTC/Self-Care education for student pharmacists. As the pharmacist can serve a vital role in ensuring patients receive appropriate care for common-self care issues, this paper looks to highlight why it is of the upmost importance that pharmacy students are receiving adequate education in OTC/self-care.

My recommendation is that this manuscript be majorly revised.

Detailed comments:

Abstract- While there is adequate background given on why to add more OTC education in pharmacy schools, there is very vague explanation or recommendation of how the authors wish to implement such a program outside of talking to a curriculum review board. Abstract- There is no discussion about how the authors plan to quantify or measure their success in the implementation of a new OTC education program. What primary endpoints are being considered to measure if the implementation of a standalone course vs an integrated course are being analyzed?

Background- Overall, the background of this paper is well written. The flow of this section seemed to make more sense than previous revisions. Background-In relation to the QuEST/SCHOLAR process it would be helpful to provide background as to why the authors specifically chose the process or what the process is. Many pharmacists are not aware of of QuEST/SCHOLAR and background would be useful to provide context to the reader.

Methods-No findings or methodology were included in this paper.

Results- No data or results were included on this paper.

Discussion- This paper goes in depth into detailing different resources, such as NMA and the ACCP 2016 Didactic toolkit, for curriculum committees to consider when restructuring OTC courses. Discussion-There is no real recommendation for how to improve the current trend in decreasing OTC education outside of creating more team based learning scenarios. Considering adding how the authors recommend to implement new course, additional courses, electives, or ways to improve the current OTC course at their SOP. Supporting data for your primary aim of the study is vital to make this paper useful. Discussion-No limitations were discussed in this paper. Would be worthwhile to add in discussion about how OTC courses can vary between institution. Is there any reported data on issues with funding and the implementation of such OTC programs? Why are institutions removing OTC courses and what are these courses being replaced with?