A strategy to develop advanced pharmacy practice experiences

To establish statewide medication, disease management, and other clinical programs to serve as advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) training sites for the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy, and to guarantee year-round support for the programs by providing pharmacy students with the necessary competencies to carry a significant proportion of each program's workload.

Partnerships with pharmacies willing to use students to expand their scope of clinical practice or support existing programs were established. Partners were asked to choose the clinical program(s) they wished implemented or supported and were guaranteed that APPE students would contribute to carrying each program's clinical service workload for 48 week/year under the supervision of the partners' pharmacists. In addition, partners implementing new programs were offered other support, including equipment, supplies, and training and mentoring for their pharmacists.

Twenty-two partnerships involving anticoagulation, diabetes, immunization, medication reconciliation, and other clinical programs were established with hospital, community, and community health center pharmacies. The partnerships provided 213 APPE placements in the 2006-2007 academic year.

This work demonstrates that by using innovative approaches, a pharmacy school can form new partnerships with hospital, community health center, and community pharmacies, as well as work with existing clinical programs, to create a variety of medication, disease management, and other APPEs to meet its increasing placement needs and evolving accreditation standards.