IntroductionIn response to the coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic, Oregon State University College of Pharmacy designed and implemented a virtual six‐week case‐based learning elective rotation for advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE).ObjectivesThe goal was to develop and refine students' knowledge, critical thinking skills, evaluation and assimilation of scientific evidence, and behavior to provide patient‐focused disease management.MethodsThis APPE experience was delivered via asynchronous independent work and synchronous video conferencing. A diverse team of pharmacy experts including faculty, preceptors, and administrators developed and implemented the APPE rotation. Seventy students were divided into three groups, with each group rotating every two weeks in each of the following sections: acute care, ambulatory care, and drug information/journal club. Formative and summative assessment activities were mapped to eight student learning outcomes (SLOs). Graded activities were used to assess the achievement of SLOs, with a target minimum average of 80% as an acceptable level for achieving outcomes. At the end of the rotation, students completed a retrospective pre‐ and post‐survey to reflect their ability level for each course outcome and provide qualitative feedback regarding this APPE rotation.ResultsSixty‐eight students completed the virtual APPE rotation. Two SLOs, one focused on the ability to evaluate and apply evidence‐based medicine and the other on the ability to establish patient‐specific goals, met the target at 80.42% and 81.14%, respectively. The average change in survey responses across all outcomes was positive with 12.35% increase. The largest increase from baseline was 15.22% in the students' ability to retrieve evidence‐based medicine and a 17.72% increase in developing drug‐related educational materials. Generally, qualitative feedback from students was positive.ConclusionThe combination of Zoom and a university‐supported learning management system was a feasible and successful option to design and deliver experiential education in the context of COVID‐19 limitations. Students identified the strengths of this rotation as its structured nature and learning from content experts.
Introduction: Increasing awareness of the social determinants of health and their effect on health disparities is essential to developing clinicians prepared to practice in today's health care environment. Co-curricular programs often include service learning, which provides an opportunity for students to advance their learning on health equity.Objectives: Describe student learning using reflections written after participation in a health fair that provided free health services to the homeless population in the downtown area of a metropolitan city.Methods: Open-ended responses from a standardized post-activity reflection exercise were content analyzed for key themes. Data were analyzed with immersioncrystallization qualitative methods.Results: A total of 14 reflections were included with four themes emerging. First, students applied concepts related to the social determinants of health and identified barriers to accessing health services for underserved patient populations. Second, students reflected on how language and other elements of communication supported positive patient interactions. Third, students demonstrated self-awareness, which included personal and professional growth, through observations and interactions with community members. Fourth, students reflected on the importance of trust and mutual respect within the patient-provider relationship. Conclusion: Public health outreach is a frequent component of co-curricular programs and service learning. Student reflections demonstrated how engagement in an activity focused on an underserved population increased awareness of the social determinants of health and health equity, as well as resulted in self-awareness and growth as future health care professionals. Future research should further examine what learning occurs across a broader scope of service activities with the long-term goal of fostering engagement and empowering students to actively address health disparities.
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