Incorporating the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process Into An Interprofessional Second Year Capstone

To describe elements of an interprofessional second year capstone experience designed to incorporate each step of the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP) and to evaluate changes in attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration.

Second year pharmacy students collaborated with dental students to collect information from a standardized patient (SP), assess dental and pharmacy-related problems, and develop a plan resolving the problems identified. Students documented via a SOAP note (subjective, objective, assessment, and plan) and followed up with the SP after an emergency room visit, developing a new plan for implementation. Pharmacy students followed up in the inpatient setting when the SP was preparing for discharge, collecting information from the electronic health record (EHR), assessing the patient's medical conditions, and planning for treatment. Multiple assessment methods were used including extended multiple-choice questions (eMCQs) to assess clinical reasoning skills and a rubric for SOAP note grading.

Students performed well on the assessments especially communicating with the SP during medication history and discharge counseling and documenting their care in a SOAP note. Students stated value was added to their education through this experience.

This capstone allowed students the opportunity to practice each step of the PPCP and to collaborate as a member of an interprofessional team As the PPCP is integrated into pharmacy curricula, assessments such as this will be essential for determining practice-readiness and team-readiness of graduates.