Variables Affecting Pharmacy Students' Patient Care Interventions during Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Clinical Pharmacy Practice

Background:

• Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) are crucial for developing clinical skills.
• Student pharmacists' self-initiation of interventions is a key performance indicator.
• Understanding factors influencing self-initiated interventions is vital for optimizing training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the temporal effects on student pharmacist self-initiated interventions.
• To identify factors associated with student pharmacist self-initiation of therapeutic interventions during APPEs.

Main Methods:

• Student pharmacists at an academic medical center recorded interventions and initiators during APPE rotations.
• Demographic surveys were administered to student pharmacists post-APPE.
• Data analysis focused on identifying correlations between APPE characteristics, student demographics, and self-initiated interventions.

Main Results:

• Sixty-two student pharmacists participated in the study.
• Lower rates of self-initiated interventions were associated with infectious diseases and pediatrics APPEs, and with intentions to pursue postgraduate residency.
• The timing of APPEs, prior specialty elective completion, and prior hospital experience did not significantly impact self-initiated recommendations.

Conclusions:

• Preceptors should not base expectations for self-initiated interventions on prior student experience or future career plans.
• Further research is needed to explore reasons for lower self-initiated intervention rates in infectious diseases and pediatrics APPEs.