Professional Identity Formation in an Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Emphasizing Self-Authorship.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Professional Identity Formation
• Self-Authorship Development

Background:

• Reflective essays are crucial for assessing student development.
• The Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) is a key component of pharmacy education.
• Baxter-Magolda's Learning Partnerships Model provides a framework for understanding self-authorship.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the connection between reflective essays, professional identity, and self-authorship in graduating pharmacy students.
• To determine if Baxter-Magolda's model aligns with pharmacist professional identity formation.
• To identify how structured learning experiences impact professional identity development.

Main Methods:

• A thematic and categorical analysis was performed on 41 de-identified reflective essays.
• Essays were written by students after a six-week APPE grounded in Baxter-Magolda's model.
• Analysis focused on identifying themes related to professional identity and self-authorship.

Main Results:

• Nine distinct themes emerged from the student essays.
• Evidence of all Baxter-Magolda's self-authorship domains and phases was identified.
• A correlation was found between self-authorship development and pharmacist professional identity formation.

Conclusions:

• Purposefully designed learning experiences can significantly enhance professional identity formation in pharmacy students.
• Baxter-Magolda's self-authorship framework and the Learning Partnership Model are applicable to pharmacist professional identity development.
• Findings can inform pharmacy faculty in curriculum design to address gaps in professional identity formation.