Pharmacy Students’ Ability to Identify the Steps of the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process During IPPE

Abstract

Objective. To determine the ability of first-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students to describe patient care activities performed by pharmacists and accurately associate those activities with the five core steps of the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP). Methods. First-year student pharmacists completed introductory practice experiences at ambulatory and institutional pharmacies. Students' ability to describe activities that occurred in these settings and align them with the five core steps (collect, assess, plan, implement, and follow-up) of the PPCP were assessed. Results. The students were more adept in describing patient care activities and aligning them to the appropriate PPCP steps in an ambulatory pharmacy setting than in an institutional pharmacy setting. Students achieved higher scores when describing and aligning patient care activities associated with the collect and implement steps in an ambulatory pharmacy setting and for the assess step in an institutional pharmacy setting. Conclusion. As institutions strive to adopt the PPCP in all areas of the curriculum, this application serves as an example of successful PPCP integration early in the introductory experiential curriculum. Our results challenge faculty to provide early opportunities for students to apply the PPCP in a variety of practice settings, including settings focused on the medication distribution system.

Benefits of Utilizing Pharmacy Learners in an Inpatient Anticoagulation Education Service

“…The importance of integrating opportunities for students to apply the PPCP within an institutional or inpatient setting was previously highlighted in a study by Taylor and collegues. 8 This study indicated students often have a harder time identifying activities associated with collection and implementation within inpatient settings and challenged faculty to provide early opportunities for students to apply the PPCP in this setting. 8 The implementation of an OAC education service facilitated this clinical application of didactic skills including the collection of information, creation of therapeutic plans, and implementation of counseling skills in a setting where these opportunities are often lacking compared to ambulatory care settings.…”

Validity Evidence for a Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process Self-Efficacy Scale Among Pharmacy Students

“…11 Additional studies have described incorporation of PPCP elements within specific coursework or integration within overall curricula. 4,5,10,12,13 Despite the presence of some literature on PPCP incorporation within pharmacy education, studies have been descriptive in nature, focused within one course at one college/school, and have not assessed self-efficacy for individual components of the PPCP. 4,5,10,11 An instrument assessing pharmacy students' self-efficacy in application of the PPCP in practice can be very valuable, especially when utilized with other assessment tools.…”

“…11 Additional studies have described how the PPCP was implemented in an entire pharmacy program 5 and how students' knowledge of the PPCP steps was assessed in a medicinal chemistry course 12 and an IPPE course. 13 There continues to be a need for instruments, with demonstrated validity evidence, that assess students' ability to implement PPCP components, especially as part of advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPE) and practice readiness assessments. 5 Evaluating student confidence in PPCP is one important component of a global approach to assess students' competency with applying the PPCP.…”

“…8,9 Several studies have described or examined implementation of the PPCP in specific courses. 4,5,[10][11][12][13] Rivkin described how the PPCP was incorporated in an introductory pharmacotherapy course to introduce first year pharmacy students (P1) to PPCP components and how to apply the process when evaluating a patient case. 4 The author reported that although students lacked significant clinical knowledge at that stage in their curriculum, their competency in collecting a medication history and identifying drug-related problems during subsequent introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) was higher compared to previous student cohorts.…”

Implementation strategy for teaching the pharmacists' patient care process to first year student pharmacists

“…[7][8][9][10] Other strategies described in the literature include integration as a curricular thread or within capstone experiences, experiential education, medicinal chemistry, and elective courses. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Sorenson and colleagues recently called for the Academy to achieve greater consistency, specificity, and intentionality to teaching the PPCP and to hold itself accountable for preparing graduates who can deliver care with fidelity. 18 Implementation science, the study of methods that influence the integration of evidenced-based interventions into practice, should be leveraged to support these curricular advancement efforts.…”