Quality Experiential Education

Objective. To describe the use of capacity ratios following the assignment of introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) to a rising third-year pharmacy (P3) class. Methods. Practice experience availability for IPPEs was collected by means of preceptor response to requests. Following assignment of IPPEs to the rising P3 class, capacity ratios from the IPPEs available across the entire state and within each of 4 geographic zones were calculated. Capacity ratios for both community pharmacy and institutional pharmacy also were calculated. Results. The capacity ratio for IPPEs across the entire state was 2.11, which documents solvency. When the capacity ratios were calculated individually for community pharmacy and institutional pharmacy, solvency was also achieved. Likewise, IPPE capacity ratios were solvent in all 4 geographic zones. Conclusions. Capacity ratios are helpful in evaluating IPPE availability as they can be used to determine practice experience need in either type of practice experience or geographic zone.Keywords: experiential education, practice experience, capacity ratio, introductory pharmacy practice experiences, availability INTRODUCTIONThe Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education implemented new guidelines and requirements for introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) in 2007. 1 This portion of the experiential education must comprise at least 5% of the curriculum or a minimum of 300 hours. Many colleges and schools of pharmacy have had to restructure their curriculum to meet these early experiential education experiences.2 Administration of vaccinations, 3 participation in medication reconciliation, 4 interaction with real patients in the classroom, 5 and direct patient contact in hospitals and clinics for case presentations 6 have been used or suggested as a means of meeting IPPE hours in preparation for advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). Some colleges and schools of pharmacy have used a formalized practice experience in both community pharmacy and institutional pharmacy. Of the 2 mentioned, institutional pharmacy has historically been the most difficult to schedule because of the limited number of institutions available. The importance of academia working with the available institutions has been addressed in the literature.7-9 The number of pharmacy colleges and schools in the state of Tennessee expanded from 1 to 6 over a period of 4 years, creating competition for sites, especially for schools using full-time practice experiences in the IPPE program. Our college requires a fulltime commitment from students during IPPEs, including two 40-hour weeks for community IPPEs and the same for the institutional IPPEs. These 2 practice experiences take place within a calendar month. The University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy's IPPE program includes 370 hours from various courses throughout the curriculum (Table 1). The IPPE program includes 210 hours in part-time experiences and 160 hours in full-time IPPEs. The IPPE program is a compilation of various comp...

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Capacity Ratios in Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences

Haswell

Byrd

Foster

et al. 2012

“…1 Interprofessional education (IPE) is a pedagogical approach that engages students of various health professions, dedicated to the introduction, reinforcement, and mastery of core competencies for provision of patient care in a collaborative team environment. 2 Both experiential education and IPE are integral components of the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum supported by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing and Evaluating an Interprofessional Experiential Course Series Involving Medical and Pharmacy Students

Rotz

Dueñas

Zanoni

et al. 2016

Objective. To prepare first-year and second-year pharmacy and medical students to build effective collaborative health care teams by participating in an interprofessional experiential 6-semester course series.Design. An interprofessional experiential course series was designed using a variety of teaching methods to achieve both interprofessional and experiential learning outcomes. A standardized objective behavioral assessment was developed to measure team performance of interprofessional communication and teamwork. In addition, student perceptions were measured using a validated instrument. Assessment. A majority of teams demonstrated appropriate competence with respect to interprofessional communication and teamwork. Additionally, a majority of students expressed positive perceptions of interprofessional collaboration with respect to teamwork, roles and responsibilities, and patient outcomes.Conclusion. An interprofessional experiential course series can be successfully implemented to achieve both interprofessional and experiential learning outcomes. Highly collaborative teams and positive student perceptions provide evidence of achievement of interprofessional education learning outcomes.Keywords: interprofessional education, behaviors, perceptions, SPICE, assessment INTRODUCTIONExperiential education is a methodology involving the incorporation of learners into direct practice experiences and guided reflective observations with the goal of increasing student knowledge and professional abilities such as skills, attitudes, and behaviors. 1 Interprofessional education (IPE) is a pedagogical approach that engages students of various health professions, dedicated to the introduction, reinforcement, and mastery of core competencies for provision of patient care in a collaborative team environment. 2 Both experiential education and IPE are integral components of the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum supported by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE). 3 Additionally, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) outlines these required standards and specifically states that all students should competently "participate in experiential educational activities with prescribers/student prescribers and other student/professional health care team members, including face-to-face interactions that are designed to advance interprofessional team effectiveness." 4 Several instructional design formats for the delivery of IPE are reported in the literature. A review conducted by Abu-Rish and colleagues reviewed 83 eligible studies and found small group discussion and problem-based learning to be the most commonly used strategies, followed by experiential-based clinical teaching, simulation-based learning, and various other educational interventions. 5 Because of the variety of instructional design formats employed and the varying frequency of these activities throughout the curriculum (ie, one-time activities vs multiple activities throughout the ...

“…However, the paper contains no guidance on the number of patient encounters or skills performed. 2 The White Paper and the related ACCP Position Statement on Ensuring Quality Experiential Education recommend using student portfolios that include checklists of required elements, a record of skills and activities performed during the APPE, logs of topics discussed and types of patients seen, and examples of drug information questions answered to help determine deficiencies that can be remedied during future experiences. 2,3 Competency of skills are determined through observation of students or through targeted skill assessments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 The White Paper and the related ACCP Position Statement on Ensuring Quality Experiential Education recommend using student portfolios that include checklists of required elements, a record of skills and activities performed during the APPE, logs of topics discussed and types of patients seen, and examples of drug information questions answered to help determine deficiencies that can be remedied during future experiences. 2,3 Competency of skills are determined through observation of students or through targeted skill assessments. 2,3 However, it is unknown how many patient encounters in a given therapeutic area or patient care skills performed would ensure competency, and tracking of patient encounters in specific therapeutic areas is not currently a requirement in most APPEs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2,3 Competency of skills are determined through observation of students or through targeted skill assessments. 2,3 However, it is unknown how many patient encounters in a given therapeutic area or patient care skills performed would ensure competency, and tracking of patient encounters in specific therapeutic areas is not currently a requirement in most APPEs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Tracking Patient Encounters and Clinical Skills to Determine Competency in Ambulatory Care Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences

Lounsbery

Pereira

Harris

et al. 2016

Objective. To determine if the amount of exposure to patient encounters and clinical skills correlates to student clinical competency on ambulatory care advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). Design. Students in ambulatory care APPEs tracked the number of patients encountered by medical condition and the number of patient care skills performed. At the end of the APPE, preceptors evaluated students' competency for each medical condition and skill, referencing the Dreyfus model for skill acquisition. Assessment. Data was collected from September 2012 through August 2014. Forty-six responses from a student tracking tool were matched to preceptor ratings. Students rated as competent saw more patients and performed more skills overall. Preceptors noted minimal impact on workload. Conclusions. Increased exposure to patient encounters and skills performed had a positive association with higher Dreyfus stage, which may represent a starting point in the conversation for more thoughtful design of ambulatory care APPEs.