Entrusting Pharmacy Trainees: Exploring Expectations of Entrustment Across the Pharmacy Intern Year in Australia

To explore the expected level of entrustment and the corresponding degree of supervision for trainees at designated milestones during their pharmacy internship.

Registered and provisionally registered (intern) pharmacists in Australia were invited to participate in an anonymous online questionnaire. Participants articulated the level of supervision they expect an intern pharmacist to achieve for the three Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) included in the Australian Pharmacy Council workplace-based assessment tools using the 5-level entrustment scale. These three EPAs are dispensing medicines, compounding pharmaceutical products, and providing medication counseling.

A total of 302 responses were received (82 intern pharmacists and 220 registered pharmacists). Intern pharmacists' self-perceived level of entrustment was higher than the level expected by registered pharmacists at the midpoint and conclusion of intern training for the dispensing and compounding EPAs. Pharmacists in community pharmacy and hospital dispensary settings expected intern pharmacists to practice with more autonomy compared to hospital clinical pharmacists at the conclusion of intern training for the compounding and counseling EPAs. A medium level of consensus (50%-74.9% overall agreement at any one entrustment level) was reached by all pharmacists regarding the expected level of entrustment of intern pharmacists at different time points in training for all three EPAs.

There is a lack of consensus among registered pharmacists regarding the level of supervision expected of intern pharmacists at defined time points in training. Entrustment decisions by registered pharmacists may vary depending on the practice setting. Intern pharmacists' self-perceived entrustment of their performance was higher than that of registered pharmacists, highlighting the need for further research to explore the existing gap between supervisor and trainee perceptions of supervision requirements.