Training student pharmacists to facilitate human immunodeficiency virus point-of-care testing

The advent of HIV point-of-care testing (POCT) has increased ease of access to HIV testing in the outpatient setting. As community pharmacy continues to expand, it is crucial that student pharmacists are exposed to POCT in the classroom so they are prepared for more intensive training as a pharmacist as they could be providing POCT in future practice. Our objective was to train student pharmacists to perform HIV POCT and educate patients on results and implications of testing. Educational activity and setting: Following a didactic HIV lecture, second-year student pharmacists learned to utilize the OraQuick ADVANCE Rapid HIV-½ Antibody Test in a one-hour workshop. Participants were then assessed using a 4-point Likert type scale during an individual, 10-min skills lab on their ability to provide POCT using sample kits and interpret simulated results. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Forty-one students participated. Students showed competency when performing HIV POCT, as 92.7% of students were able to describe the test, and 97.6% of students were able to interpret the results correctly. Students scored a mean of 46.2 points overall (maximum of 50).

Results suggest training student pharmacists to perform HIV POCT may better prepare them to administer the test and counsel patients on results in an outpatient setting. Future studies should examine the differences in the ability to perform POCT between pharmacists who received training as students and those who did not.