Objective. To determine how accredited Doctor of Pharmacy programs implement and evaluate the cocurriculum requirement as mandated by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Methods. A survey was administered to all ACPE-accredited pharmacy programs to collect information regarding how co-curriculum models were being implemented, including types of activities, structure, learning outcomes, oversight, and assessment. The frequency of responses to items were presented to describe the general features of co-curriculum models. Results. The types of co-curricular activities reported by programs were generally consistent, with the majority of programs categorizing these activities and allowing students to choose which they would engage in. Most respondents reported that the program mapped co-curricular activities to learning outcomes, primarily ACPE Standards 1-4. The structural oversight of the co-curriculum typically included a co-curriculum committee, subcommittee, or task force, and supporting offices. The most common offices/departments involved in the co-curriculum were assessment, student affairs/services, experiential education, and academic/curricular affairs. The most common assessments were reflections, selfassessment surveys, and checklists. Conclusion. In most programs, implementation of the co-curriculum was a joint effort among various individuals, committees, and offices. Given the developing nature of programs, descriptive studies should be repeated to identify how programs develop and enhance co-curriculum models. The study results may be useful to members of the Academy when evaluating the current state of co-curriculum implementation and potential areas for program development.
Objective. To identify key business, management, and human resources skills needed by pharmacy graduates. Methods. Pharmacy preceptors were recruited for inclusion in one of four focus groups. At each focus group, participants were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire and to identify key skills that new graduates need but do not have. Each focus group was audio-recorded, transcribed, de-identified, and categorized using a data dictionary. Results. Twenty-seven preceptors participated in the focus groups. Fourteen participants had a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Participants were involved in management positions for a median of 10.5 years (range 5-21 years) and 50% (median) of their time was devoted to management responsibilities (range 20%-80%). Seven themes were identified as being most critical: communication, business skills, decision-making and time management, conflict resolution, leadership and professionalism, personnel management, and computer software techniques. Conclusion. Communication was the most prominent skill identified, followed by decision-making and business knowledge. These skills should be addressed in pharmacy curricula. Future research should focus on how to best teach these skills.
No outside funding supported this study. The University of Arizona Medication Management Center (UAMMC)/SinfoniaRx provides grant funding to the University of Arizona for research. Augustine reports support from the UAMMC and ownership of Pfizer stock and was a graduate student at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy at the time of this study. The authors report no other potential conflicts of interest. Buhl and Augustine contributed study concept and design, collected the data, and wrote the manuscript. Data interpretation was performed by all the authors. Taylor, Warholak, Augustine, and Martin revised the manuscript.
Objective. Utilize results of a national survey to describe current uses of the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment (PCOA) including: assignment of cut-points and stakes; characterization of how "at-risk" students are identified; and frequency and types of remediation processes.Methods. Assessment professionals from 135 US schools and colleges of pharmacy were invited to complete a 38-item survey. Survey items were designed to investigate common uses of the PCOA, cutpoints and "stakes" assigned to the PCOA, identification of at-risk students, and remediation approaches.The survey was administered electronically using SurveyMonkey. Data were analyzed using SPSS v. 21. Results. The school response rate was 68%. The most common uses of the PCOA included curricular assessment (76%), individual student performance assessment (74%), and cohort performance assessment (71%). The PCOA was most frequently administered to third professional year (P3) students. The approach for assigning "stakes" to PCOA performance varied amongst programs depending on the student's professional year in the curriculum. There were a variety of approaches used to establish the benchmark (or cut-point) for PCOA performance. Remediation for at risk students was required by less than 25% of programs. Remediation was most commonly required for P3 students (22%).
Conclusions.Survey results indicate wide variability between programs regarding PCOA cut-points (benchmarks), stakes, and remediation approaches. In the future, it will be important for pharmacy educators to identify and study best practices for use of PCOA within student assessment and remediation plans.
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