Pharmacy Students Practicing Health Advocate Competency Roles in Workplace-Based Training

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Health Advocacy
• Competency Development

Background:

• Health advocacy roles are integral to health discipline educational outcomes.
• Development of these roles is often neglected in professional curricula and clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how pharmacy students conceptualize health advocacy.
• To examine their practice in workplace-based learning and feedback received.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal diary study of 25 Canadian pharmacy students during Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.
• Analysis of 180 diary records of health advocacy activities and feedback using inductive content analysis.

Main Results:

• Student activities categorized into disease prevention, health promotion, seamless care, usual pharmacist care, and professional advocacy.
• Activities often focused on biomedical aspects, lacking patient- or systems-level support for social determinants of health.
• Limited specific feedback on health advocacy was reported by students despite its inclusion in evaluations.

Conclusions:

• Pharmacy students develop health advocacy roles primarily through biomedical practices with minimal supervisor input.
• Educational outcomes for health advocacy competencies require updates to include system-level enactment and improved feedback mechanisms.