Advanced pharmacy practice experience students at the intersection of education and practice transformation

Characteristics and outcomes of practice experiences in community pharmacies: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Pharmaceutical education includes practice experiences to develop in students the competencies required to perform in community pharmacies. However, evidence on practice experiences in community pharmacies was not synthesized in a review.

OBJECTIVE

This scoping review aims to map, identify, characterize, and summarize the characteristics and outcomes of pharmacy practice experience programs in community pharmacy settings.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted. MEDLINE (PubMed), Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched to identify relevant literature. Studies describing characteristics of pharmacy practice experience programs in community pharmacy settings or evaluating their outcomes were included. Studies were limited to those published from 1990 to 2024.

RESULTS

Fifty-one studies were included in the review. The papers were carried out in 19 different countries of the five continents. Most of the studies (56.9 %) included were published in the period 2016-2023. The most frequent design in the studies included was the quantitative (43.1 %), followed by mixed methods (27.5 %), and qualitative (25.5 %). There was heterogeneity across the globe in denominations of practice experiences. The findings suggested that these experiences impacted students' and preceptors' satisfaction, student's development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and improvements in community pharmacy.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings can inform the design and performance of practice experience programs by faculty members and preceptors, guiding them in the selection of characteristics more suitable to the context of their educational institutions and practice sites.

Implementation and Evaluation of the Pharmacist eCare Plan in Didactic Self-Care Pharmacotherapy Courses at Two Institutions

OBJECTIVE

To assess students' knowledge, confidence, and performance in documenting interventions using the Pharmacist electronic Care Plan (PeCP) within self-care courses at 2 institutions.

METHODS

Two institutions collaborated to develop a multipart self-care electronic care (eCare) planning activity. The activity included (1) a lecture on the PeCP, (2) a video on how to document within PioneerRx (pharmacy documentation software), (3) small group classroom practice, and (4) an individual graded assignment. Students' knowledge and confidence were assessed with a pre and postactivity survey, while their documentation performance was evaluated by analyzing the graded individual assignment. Survey responses and individual assignment grades were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test assessed changes in skill responses between pre and postactivity surveys. McNemar's and Bowker's tests were used to evaluate changes in response proportions, with a Bonferroni correction applied for multiple comparisons.

RESULTS

Matched pre and postactivity surveys were collected from 76 students across both institutions. There was a statistically significant increase in 2 of 5 knowledge-based questions, as well as in students' confidence regarding all essential components of the PeCP. The average score on the individual eCare planning assignment was 93.9% (n = 157).

CONCLUSION

This study describes a potential strategy for incorporating the PeCP into a required didactic course. This expands students' exposure to digital health, which is supported by the Accreditation Council of Pharmacy Education Standards 2025. Furthermore, it provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to serve as change agents in community pharmacy practice transformation.

Strengths and limitations of a novel "Flip the Pharmacy" practice transformation coach advanced pharmacy practice experience

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Flip the Pharmacy (FtP) helps community pharmacies "flip" from dispensing- to patient-centered care models with assistance from practice transformation coaches ("coaches"). Purdue University College of Pharmacy created a novel advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) positioning students to serve as FtP coaches with oversight from four faculty coaches. This communication describes the APPE's design, characterizes preliminary student coaching outcomes, and identifies the APPE's strengths and limitations.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING

Twelve pharmacies were coached by APPE students. The APPE was designed to enhance student knowledge and skills in the scaled implementation of advanced patient care services through structured weekly activities: Week 1, student orientation and training; Week 2, preparing for pharmacy visits; and Weeks 3 and 4, conducting pharmacy visits. Students also performed recurring tasks each week, including managing social media accounts.

FINDINGS

Twenty-eight students completed the APPE. Students conducted 81 in-person and 105 virtual visits. Faculty coaches were estimated to need 40 to 50  hours each month for coaching-related activities; involving student coaches reduced faculty coach time by approximately 50%, with faculty spending 20  hours on average per month vs. students spending 50.84  hours. APPE strengths included intentional weekly structuring and oversight and careful student transitions; limitations included minimal pharmacy vendor knowledge and limited rapport-building with pharmacies.

SUMMARY

Early experiences demonstrated several benefits, including optimized faculty coach time and student exposure to practice transformation. Future endeavors to implement similar APPEs should incorporate strategies to enhance pharmacy vendor knowledge and strengthen relationship-building with participating pharmacies.

Defining the value of faculty primary care clinical pharmacists

BACKGROUND

Demonstrating the value of comprehensive medication management (CMM) within clinical faculty sites is a challenge when balancing patient volume with academic responsibilities. Utilizing an evidence-based implementation system for CMM, faculty primary care clinical pharmacists (PCCPs) standardized CMM within their practice sites.

OBJECTIVE

The primary objective of this project was to define the value of faculty PCCPs.

METHODS

An Ambulatory Care Summit was hosted to identify opportunities for consistency of CMM. Following the summit, the CMM implementation team (faculty PCCPs and project manager) utilized CMM implementation tools from the Comprehensive Medication Management in Primary Care Research Team. Additionally, a strategic plan was developed to enhance practice management, improve fidelity, and determine key performance indicators (KPIs). Five faculty-mentored student projects assessed value of faculty-delivered CMM in primary care clinics. Data included medication adherence metrics, clinic quality metrics, diabetes metrics, acute healthcare utilization rates, and a physician satisfaction survey.

RESULTS

Among those receiving CMM, adherence improved 14% (P = 0.022), 119 clinic quality metrics were achieved, HbA1c ≤ 9% improved 45% (p < 0.001), average HbA1c decreased by 1.73% (p < 0.001), and medication preventable acute care utilization within the referral reason decreased. Over 90% of physicians surveyed agreed the faculty PCCP is a valuable team member, improved patients' health, and improved effectiveness/efficiency. Four student posters were presented at national conferences and 18 student pharmacists were engaged in various aspects of the project.

CONCLUSION

Incorporating CMM at faculty primary care clinics provides value. To demonstrate this value, faculty must align KPIs with institution-specific payer contracts.

Implementation and evaluation of a practice transformation advanced pharmacy practice experience

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Advanced entrepreneurship opportunities are important to consider as entrepreneurial skills become increasingly important to develop in pharmacy students. This institution implemented a new practice transformation advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE), pairing students with community partners to implement and/or evaluate pharmacy services, network with pharmacists, and receive mentorship. The purpose of this article is to describe the APPE and students' outcomes during this first pilot year.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING

A faculty preceptor mentored and oversaw all APPE activities. Students were selected through an application process, and community partners were recruited based on alignment with students' goals and need for student assistance. Community partners prepared a list of practice transformation activities needed at their sites, and progress was tracked during weekly virtual meetings. APPE students completed a pre-APPE questionnaire, collecting background information and predictors of entrepreneurship: proactive personality, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO). At the end of the APPE, IEO was measured again, and students reflected on what skills were developed.

FINDINGS

Three students participated in the first year and were paired with various community partners. IEO baseline scores ranged from 24 to 28 (mean = 25.3, SD = 2.3), and follow-up scores increased to 28 to 30 (mean = 29.0, SD = 1.0). Students reported development in both soft and technical skills.

SUMMARY

The practice transformation APPE offered students a unique opportunity to develop a diverse set of skills during a focused five-week experience. Based on positive feedback from students, this institution plans to continue to expand this APPE.

Redefining 'advanced': Supporting and promoting practice change through community advanced pharmacy practice experiences

INTRODUCTION

Community pharmacy practice in the United States (US) has faced several external pressures, threatening traditional practice models. Schools and colleges of pharmacy (S/COP), particularly through experiential rotations, are perfectly poised to help these practices create new sustainable business models. The purpose of this article is to highlight demonstrated, reproducible successes of community advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) advancement initiatives.

PERSPECTIVE

Despite community pharmacists being highly-trained health care providers with roughly equivalent educational backgrounds, community-based practices in the US are not all the same. Student pharmacists can contribute to the design and implementation of revenue-generating services helping individual pharmacies elevate their practice. Doing so involves new models for staffing, workflow, billing, and documentation. Students can help support practice change by focusing on implementation and sustainability. Example APPE integrations focused on community pharmacy practice transformation are described in detail from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy, University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Idaho State University.

IMPLICATIONS

Establishing intentional connections that focus on new sustainable community business models is a responsibility for S/COP. The examples provided serve to demonstrate the feasibility of these partnerships. Training students on innovative practice models and utilizing them is critical in moving community practice forward. As academicians, we must prepare students to be agents of change for the profession and intentionally integrate them into a systematic plan to help promote and change practice activities wherever possible, but especially in community practice.

A community-based partnership collaborative practice agreement project to disseminate and implement evidence-based practices in community pharmacy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The objective of this study is to explore the impact of an educational intervention including (1) collaborative practice agreement (CPA)-focused lecture and (2) a student project in partnership with a community-based pharmacy on dissemination and implementation of CPAs in community pharmacy practice.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING

A CPA-focused classroom lecture and related project were given to five sequential years of second-year pharmacy students enrolled in a community pharmacy elective course. Community pharmacist feedback provided at the completion of the project was compared to present-day data collected via telephone survey. Responses for each survey question were summarized using frequencies, and chi-square analysis was conducted to assess the association between pharmacist perceptions at the time of the project vs. the present day.

FINDINGS

Forty-seven projects representing 47 unique CPAs were completed over five sequential years of the course. The most commonly targeted disease states by CPAs were influenza/streptococcus pharyngitis (25.5%), therapeutic interchange (6.4%), oral contraceptives (6.4%), and tobacco cessation (6.4%). Pharmacists noted that students facilitated their progress toward CPA implementation by serving as a means for CPA law education (23.4%) and by saving time in CPA development (12.8%).

SUMMARY

This study demonstrated that a student project partnering with a local community pharmacy improved knowledge dissemination but did not have any direct impact on implementation of CPAs in a community pharmacy. However, students may have a role in dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices, such as CPAs, when appropriately matched to setting-specific implementation barriers.