Class of 2007 Abstract / Objectives: To design and assess a novel evaluation tool for advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). Methods: APPE students and faculty of the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy (UA COP) completed an electronic survey assessing their level of agreement with nine questions regarding the evaluation tool’s format, content, and usefulness; they were also asked to select which of two grading systems, current (S, P, C, D, E) or alternate (pass/fail), they prefer. Results were compared with a 50% satisfaction benchmark using a Chi-square test (p<0.05). No identifying/demographic data was collected. Results: Surveys were completed by 48 of 107 eligible participants, giving a 45% response rate. The averaged response rank reflected agreement with all survey questions but number six. When compared to the benchmark, the results were significantly positive except for question number six (p=0.07). No significant difference existed between the current grading system group and the alternate group preferences (p=0.449). Conclusions: UA COP faculty and students should continue to use this evaluation tool to assess proficiency during the APPE portion of their college of pharmacy curriculum. The subjects responded positively to the evaluation, indicating that it is valuable to both faculty and students. Subjects, however, were reluctant to endorse that it facilitates communication between students and preceptors. Future changes to the adjectival scale, accessibility, and the grading system could be investigated.

Class of 2017 Abstract / Objectives: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effect of using advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) students in the collection of admission medication history at an academic teaching hospital prior to pharmacist review. Methods: The study is a retrospective, descriptive study. Using electronic medical records, the study looked at patients admitted to specific floors during a two-month period. The primary outcome was number of discrepancies found by the APPE students. The secondary outcome was the type of discrepancy found (omission, duplication, wrong dose, wrong frequency, wrong dosage form, and medications the subject no longer takes). Results: Over eight weeks, the APPE students identified 2,666 discrepancies, which equates to approximately 4.71 ± 4.76 discrepancies per patient. The majority of these discrepancies were identified as omissions of therapy (39.1%), followed by medications the patients were no longer taking (29.8%), and wrong dosing frequencies (18.1%). Conclusions: APPE students assisted the medication reconciliation process by identifying numerous medication discrepancies which may have prevented patient harm. APPE students are an underutilized resource and prove to be an asset to the healthcare team.

Objective. To design a faculty-guided international elective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Expereince (APPE) in partnership with a medical relief organization. To expose students to pharmacy-related opportunities in non-traditional settings focused on an indigent population, while obtaining a global perspective on healthcare. Methods. The College of Pharmacy partnered with an international medical relief organization utilizing their resources for trip planning and in-country logistics to provide a framework for a pharmacy student rotation. The international trip is a portion of the calendar month rotation, while the balance is faculty-guided discussion groups, involvement in formulary planning, developing educational materials, and local medical relief work. Student course evaluations, exit interviews, and post-trip debriefing were used to evaluate the rotation experience. Results. The APPE rotation met all pre-selected objectives outlined by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. This is evidenced by complete submersion into a developing country’s culture and healthcare system as well as student course evaluation responses. Students evaluated seven rotation objectives with the College of Pharmacy’s Likert scale. The average score was 4.8 of 5, which demonstrated the student’s either agreed or strongly agreed that each objective was met. Additionally, the response to the exit interview and group de-briefing questions confirmed that the students successfully met the goals and objectives of the APPE rotation. Conclusions. Partnering with an international medical organization can provide a framework for a faculty-guided international elective APPE experience, requiring minimal resources from the College of Pharmacy while providing a quality international experience.

The aim of this thesis was to explore Swedish pharmacist students’ learning during pharmacy internship. Internships are meant to introduce students to professional practice. Education programs have to reflect changes in the professional role, and take into account that learning in a professional practice setting differs from organized formal education. This thesis includes both quantitative and qualitative research approaches and applies workplace learning theories. A scheme for measuring pharmacy students’ reflective ability was developed and shown to be feasible and reliable. Factors important for reflection were found to be primarily social and contextual, especially trained tutor and small pharmacy size. Notably, learning style or critical thinking did not correlate to students’ reflective ability. Tutors and students perceived that students used a wide variety of activities supporting learning of a broad repertoire of knowledge and skills, preparing them for coming professional working life. Tutors are most important to support learning. However, the current curriculum and formal activities do not address all these outcomes and learning activities used, e.g. workplace learning. The first overall conclusion is that internship plays an essential part in the pharmacist education program. The integration of formal and informal learning activities during internship, including raising awareness of incidental learning, is important to support students in learning the professional practice of pharmacy. This integration could possibly be strengthened by introducing further tutor training, different assignments, and by using portfolios. The second conclusion is that the community of practice is essential for students’ learning during internship, especially the student-tutor interaction. Hence, the entire social context has to be considered and it is important to ensure a good learning environment at pharmacies during internship. In summary, this thesis contributes to the understanding of students’ learning during pharmacy internship and introduces educational research on the Swedish undergraduate pharmacy education programs.