Student-directed learning in a community geriatrics advanced pharmacy practice experience

To assess a community geriatrics advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) that aimed to improve students' attitudes towards older adults and provide a student-directed learning experience.

Students provided blood pressure monitoring and medication counseling to older adults living in a low-income residential facility as part of a required 6-week ambulatory care service-learning APPE. Pre-experience and post-experience essays on students' perceptions of the elderly and their intended and actual learning were retrospectively reviewed using a qualitative process to determine whether the course objectives were met.

Many students initially described older adults in factual terms or using negative descriptors. Most expressed a desire to increase their knowledge of diseases commonly occurring in and drugs commonly prescribed for the elderly or to improve specific skills. Many students initially had difficulty articulating clear and measurable learning objectives and appropriate assessment metrics, which are important components of self-directed learning. The final essays revealed many students learned more about the humanistic aspects of care than they had anticipated.

This community-based geriatrics experience improved students' attitudes towards working with older adults and provided practice in developing and assessing their personal learning objectives.