Exploring the Effect of Virtual Education on Student Pharmacists’ Confidence toward APPE Readiness

Abstract

A drop in confidence in Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) readiness was observed in students in the Class of 2022 prior to starting APPEs. We aim to investigate potential causes of students’ low confidence in APPE preparedness to provide solutions and to prevent this outcome with future students. We evaluated students’ perceived confidence to start APPEs and compared this to curricular changes, employment obligations, and the impact of COVID-19 on delivery of the pre-APPE and APPE curriculum. Students’ low confidence with APPE readiness was not indicative of the following factors: (1) delivery of the didactic curriculum, (2) students’ performance in the didactic curriculum, or (3) number of summative assessments in key didactic courses. Rather, the low confidence perception may have been due to differences such as a fully remote didactic experience in the P3 year, more virtual Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs), a reduced course load in the P3 spring semester, and changes to a pre-APPE preparatory course compared to other class years. The students’ self-reported midpoint scores during their first APPE block and preceptor’s evaluations on their performance contrasted their pre-APPE perceptions. Frequent in-person and on-site skills assessments throughout the didactic curriculum seem to reinforce confidence before APPEs.

Student perspectives on peer education using a virtual platform to enhance advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPE)

“…While confidence is an emotional component, it is a component that plays a big role in the success of any aspiring clinician. A study from September 2022 that evaluated the confidence of students in their 3rd professional year prior to the start of APPEs revealed that the class of 2022 reported the "not confident" response five times more than the class of 2021 (Mirzaian et al, 2022). Once again, it is the class of 2022, a pharmacy class that lacked in-person instruction due to the changes their curriculum endured as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, that stands out among other graduating classes.…”