Preparing PharmD students to participate in Medicare Part D education and enrollment

To create and implement a teaching module that prepares students to assist Medicare beneficiaries in evaluating and enrolling in Medicare Part D plans.

A 6-hour module entitled "Medicare 2006: This Year, It's Different!"1 was developed and first presented to students in February 2006. Material describing provisions of Medicare Part D was included as well as instructions on using the plan selection tools available on the Medicare web site. Learning activities developed included listing the top 10 things a Medicare beneficiary should know about Medicare Part D, participating in a mock patient counseling activity, selecting an appropriate Medicare prescription drug plan for a given list of drugs, and writing a paper explaining features of the plan they selected and justifying their selection.

Assessment of the 64 students who completed the module was based on completion of individual Top 10 lists, participation in mock counseling sessions, and appropriate drug plan recommendations in plan selection assignments. Overall student response to the series was overwhelmingly positive.

Given opportunities to apply Medicare Part D knowledge in the classroom setting, PharmD students were able to empathize with the plight of elderly patients and took the initiative to participate in Part D education and enrollment efforts in their communities.