Student Integration into Hospital Clinical Pharmacy Services in an Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience: A Process...

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Clinical Pharmacy Services
• Experiential Learning

Background:

• Student integration into clinical pharmacy services during Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) benefits both student development and patient care.
• Effective integration strategies are often dependent on the specific healthcare setting, including the pharmacy department's services and capacity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify key elements that facilitated the successful integration of pharmacy students into hospital clinical pharmacy services during a Collaborative Health Care (CHC) setting APPE.
• To understand the perceptions of students and preceptors regarding student involvement in clinical services.

Main Methods:

• A process evaluation was conducted over one year at a Canadian faculty of pharmacy.
• Data were collected through virtual interviews with students and preceptors, rotation evaluations, and patient-procedure logs.
• Analysis involved triangulation of data from multiple sources.

Main Results:

• A total of 71 students and 166 preceptors were eligible, with 11 students and 17 preceptors interviewed.
• All students and 34% of preceptors completed online evaluations.
• Six main theme categories emerged regarding the integration of students into clinical services during the CHC APPE rotation.

Conclusions:

• The study identified specific elements that positively supported pharmacy students' learning and their contributions within hospital clinical services during CHC APPEs.
• Both students and preceptors recognized the value of integrating students into practice settings.
• Findings offer valuable insights for enhancing pharmacy experiential education programs nationwide.