Strategies for Managing Pharmacy Experiential Education During COVID-19

Abstract

In recent months, the coronavirus pandemic has significantly affected almost every industry in the United States, including health care and higher education. Faculty and students at colleges and schools of pharmacy nationwide have needed to quickly adapt as the delivery of curricula has shifted to primarily online format. Additionally, experiential rotations have been significantly affected as practice settings such as hospitals and outpatient clinics have limited students’ interactions with patients or stopped allowing students on-site altogether. Our commentary will explore strategies that have been employed by experiential education coordinators and pharmacy preceptors from various settings to navigate experiential education during these difficult times while ensuring students successfully meet requirements for graduation. These will include descriptions of transitioning advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) to virtual format, how to safely involve students in the care of COVID-19 patients, and managing scheduling issues.

Development of a Remote Public Health Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience in Response to COVID-19

“…In the current COVID-19 environment, we are just starting to see published examples of pharmacy practice and education effects and response. 16,17,20,[23][24][25][26][27] However, there are a few public health APPE examples that have been published in the literature that describe similar rotation experiences. Patterson described an APPE in public health that was conducted at a free clinic that involved direct patient care, written assignments, role play and student discussions.…”

“…19 Many colleges reported that students were allowed to work remotely and complete their APPEs by communicating with a preceptor and providing patient care via telephone, videoconferencing, and virtual access to patient charts. 17,20 Unfortunately, there were still many students who were unable to be consistently placed on required and elective experiential rotations, forcing colleges to find innovative solutions in order to keep students on track for graduation. For example, at our institution, over half of the APPE students were displaced (52% in April and 69% in May) from their originally scheduled rotations in the late spring of 2020.…”

Preparation for Telehealth Pharmacy Practice as a Learning Environment

“…If the project is describing changes made to an experience or discussing high-level considerations for restructuring or delivering learning experiences through telehealth, it may not require formal IRB approval, but it may be prudent to check with the local IRB before starting the project. 14…”

Cross-Sectional Analysis of Taiwanese Pharmacy Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Transitioning from In-Hospital Internships to Distance Learning Due to COVID-19

“…The hospitals that provided this training were often located in the areas that were most severely affected by the pandemic and were unable to continue onsite training for students because of COVID-19 regulations. However, to allow pharmacy students to complete their internships, some units allowed their students to transition to online/virtual internships, while others provided a hybrid of physical and virtual internships, which enabled their students to practice remotely as well as engage in face-to-face learning and discussions with teachers at the hospital [ 9 , 10 ].…”