Impact of an infectious diseases advanced pharmacy practice experience on student knowledge

The goal of this assessment was to determine knowledge acquisition by pharmacy students during an infectious diseases (ID) advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE).

A 50-question knowledge-based examination was given to every student on a five-week ID APPE between July 1, 2013 and May 5, 2017. The examination was also given to control students (those who did not have an ID APPE) immediately prior to graduation. The primary outcome was difference in examination performance after completion of the ID APPE. Secondary outcomes included correlations between examination performance and number of previous inpatient clinical rotations (ICR), average score in therapeutic coursework (TC), and rotation block (RB).

Forty students were included (control = 5, experimental = 35). Average pre-test scores were similar between experimental and control students [61.7 (10.9)% versus 62.0 (5.1)%, respectively], but experimental post-test scores [80.2 (7.9)%] were significantly better than pre-test scores for both experimental (p < .05) and control student (p < .05) examination scores. ICR [1.3 (1.0) rotations], TC [81.5 (3.9)%], and RB (median = 4) had a positive correlation with pre-examination performance (R = .5, .5, and .4, respectively).

Improved ID pharmacotherapy knowledge is needed. Baseline scores of students taking an ID elective were similar to control students who completed the entire year of APPEs, and knowledge scores were higher in ID students after APPE completion. There was a positive, but not strong, correlation between pre-examination performance and number of previous rotations, therapeutic coursework, and rotation block.

A five-week ID elective APPE improved student performance on a knowledge-based examination. Consideration should be given to more consistent integration of ID principles across all rotation types.