Pharmaceutical care- urgency: Proposing a practical clinical framework for pharmacy students

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Clinical Pharmacy Practice
• Healthcare Professional Training

Background:

• Prioritizing drug therapy problems (DTPs) presents a challenge for pharmacy students during experiential placements.
• This indicates a need for improved pre-placement preparation and resource modification for effective clinical reasoning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a modified DTP prioritizing framework tailored for pharmacy students.
• To enhance students' clinical reasoning skills and confidence in addressing DTPs within the pharmaceutical care process.

Main Methods:

• An informal focus group assessed students' baseline DTP prioritizing capabilities.
• Participants ranked medical condition urgency and proposed resolution timeframes.
• Feedback was gathered on a proposed DTP prioritizing framework incorporating curricular knowledge, urgency, and action timelines.

Main Results:

• Student DTP urgency rankings were significantly more heterogeneous (R=0.61) than those of pharmacists (R=0.807).
• Students reported the framework enhanced their development of expertise through its focus on curricular knowledge.
• Preceptors found the framework mirrored their practice and would aid student guidance.

Conclusions:

• The modified DTP prioritizing framework can enhance student success in experiential settings.
• The framework also supports preceptor development by providing a structured approach to guiding students.
• Implementation of this framework may bridge the gap in student preparedness for DTP prioritization.