Frequency of essential elements in required advanced pharmacy practice experiences (FEER - APPE).

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Experiential Learning
• Healthcare Professional Training

Background:

• Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) are crucial for developing essential elements (EE) in pharmacy students.
• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated shifts in APPE delivery, impacting traditional in-person learning modalities.
• Understanding the effect of these delivery changes on EE achievement is vital for curriculum adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate student-reported achievement of EE across three required APPEs.
• To identify differences in EE frequency based on standard versus disrupted delivery modalities.
• To compare EE achievement across different pharmacy programs.

Main Methods:

• Student self-assessment inventories were used to record EE exposure and completion.
• Data were collected from acute care, ambulatory care, and community pharmacy APPEs between May 2018 and December 2020.
• Frequencies of EE were compared between standard (in-person) and disrupted (hybrid/remote) delivery formats.

Main Results:

• A total of 2191 evaluations (97%) were completed.
• Acute care APPEs showed significant changes in evidence-based medicine EE frequency.
• Ambulatory care APPEs reported a decrease in pharmacist patient care EE, while community pharmacy APPEs saw decreases in most EE categories.
• Significant inter-program differences in EE achievement were observed.

Conclusions:

• Disrupted APPE delivery modalities resulted in minimal overall changes in EE completion.
• Community pharmacy APPEs were most affected, likely due to reduced direct patient contact.
• Ambulatory care APPEs were less impacted, possibly due to the integration of telehealth.