Association of Cocurricular Activities to ACPE Standard #3 Elements by Student-Reported Competencies

To assess the influence of required cocurricular activities on Accreditation Council of Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards 2016: Standard #3 Elements-Approach to Practice and Care competencies using year-end student surveys.

Year-end surveys of first year pharmacy (P1) to fourth pharmacy year (P4) students compared student self-assessments of their aptitude for each Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education 2013 outcomes in ACPE Standard #3 from a 3 year period when cocurricular activities were voluntary (volunteer period) and a 3 year period when a unique cocurricular activity was required each semester without academic credit (required period). A total of 294 unique cocurricular activities were offered during the required period. t tests and analysis of variance were used to compare responses across periods within each pharmacy year and academic year.

During the volunteer period, 589 student survey responses were collected (81.7% response rate), compared to 433 (79.7%) engaging in cocurricular activities (required period). The mean age of the students in both periods was 24.1 years (SD 4.3), 61.0% were female, and 49.2% had prior degrees. Students participated in 283 distinct cocurricular activities. Student self-assessment across all Standard #3 elements improved each year. The aggregate improvement range across P1 to P4 years was 25.1% to 74.4% (p <.05 for each element). The most significant improvement was observed in Domain 3.1, Problem-Solving. The greatest increase occurred during the P1 year, followed by a leveling off across the third year pharmacy to P4 years.

Student-reported assessment indicates that providing required cocurricular opportunities across all professional years positively influences student perceptions of competency in ACPE Standard #3 Approach to Practice and Care Elements.