Student Pharmacists' Satisfaction, Perceptions, and Knowledge in Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience in the...

This study describes an elective advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) in the pharmaceutical industry offered to fourth professional year (P4) student pharmacists and reports on the outcomes assessment of students' satisfaction, perceptions, and knowledge during the APPE.

An observational cross-sectional study design was employed to analyze responses from 59 P4 student pharmacists who completed a pharmaceutical industry elective APPE, based on data collected over 10 years of offering the elective. Students completed surveys after the APPE, indicating their levels of agreement regarding the practice site and preceptors, as well as their satisfaction with the APPE in meeting its learning objectives.

Most respondents highly rated the quality standards of the practice site and preceptors, with average ratings of 3.39 ± 0.09 and 3.38 ± 0.11 on a 4-point Likert scale, respectively. They also expressed high satisfaction with the coverage of the APPE learning objectives, with an average rating of 3.47 ± 0.09. Moderate-to-strong correlations were observed between the ratings for the practice site and learning objectives, and between the preceptors and learning objectives.

The pharmaceutical industry offers pharmacy programs a unique opportunity to conduct nontraditional elective APPEs. This can be effectively implemented through partnership agreements and close collaboration between the programs and pharmaceutical companies, with active involvement from site preceptors in teaching students. Student pharmacists appreciated the nonpatient care industrial APPE, which broadened their knowledge and practice while also expanding the school's experiential offerings.