Preparing Pharmacy Graduates for Traditional and Emerging Career Opportunities

Abstract

Educational programs in pharmacy must focus on educating pharmacists of the future who are prepared to serve as competent and confident health care ''providers'' whose ''practice'' can occur in any number of current and future settings; and whose expertise is essential to an interprofessional health care team. Graduates must be able to incorporate a scholarly approach to their practice in identifying patient care problems; practicing in an evidence-based manner; and ensuring safe, effective, and appropriate use of medications. It is time for colleges and schools of pharmacy to implement contemporary teaching and assessment strategies that facilitate effective and efficient student learning that is focused at the graduate professional level, to evolve the content around which the curriculum is organized, and clearly articulate the abilities graduates must have to function effectively in the myriad professional roles in which they may find themselves.

Variety and Quantity of Professional Electives

“…These practice areas are ones identified in the 2009 National Pharmacists Workforce Survey the 2011 AACP Graduating Student Survey, and an article that identified emerging areas for pharmacy involvement. 3,11,12 The average number of elective APPEs required was 3 (range 1 to 5). Sixty-four categories of APPE electives a Data were available for only 57 of the 123 colleges and schools of pharmacy included in the study.…”

“…In addition to traditional opportunities, emerging opportunities for pharmacists exist in medication therapy management, pharmacogenomics, medication reconciliation, patient advocacy, research, antibiotic stewardship, care coordination, medication safety, armed services, drug regulation, managed care, government, technology, and academia. 12 Articles have been published that provide recommendations concerning general competencies to be achieved throughout the PharmD curriculum, as well as the extent of coverage of specific aspects of pharmacy (eg, nuclear pharmacy, pharmacogenomics, and drug information) in required and elective courses. elective course credit hours and elective APPEs required also were identified.…”

Integration of Physical Assessment Within a Pathophysiology Course for Pharmacy

“…1 Sustaining and growing these programs and services requires proper education of pharmacy students in order to emphasize confidence as a healthcare provider who is an integral part of the interprofessional healthcare team. 1 One way to achieve interprofessional care is to ensure student understanding of the medical model as it pertains to patient history, SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, and plan) note development, and physical assessment.…”

“…1 Sustaining and growing these programs and services requires proper education of pharmacy students in order to emphasize confidence as a healthcare provider who is an integral part of the interprofessional healthcare team. 1 One way to achieve interprofessional care is to ensure student understanding of the medical model as it pertains to patient history, SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, and plan) note development, and physical assessment. 2 This model has been recognized by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), which indicates that a pharmacy student must be able to "provide patient care in cooperation with patients, prescribers, and other members of an interprofessional healthcare team based upon sound therapeutic principles and evidence-based data."…”

Development and Assessment of Social and Emotional Competence Through Simulated Patient Consultations

“…For example, in a white paper prepared for the American Association of College of Pharmacy 2009 Curricular Change Summit, authors stated that in the past, pharmacy education focused on developing skills needed for preparing and dispensing medications in a safe and effective way. 1 The white paper identifies 10 content or learning strategies that must be incorporated into the pharmacy curriculum, over half of which relate to social and emotional development. 1,2 Although the importance of learning emotional intelligence and incorporating it into healthcare have been discussed in the literature, there has been little research on measuring emotional intelligence and, more importantly, assessing emotional intelligence development in the pharmacy curriculum.…”