Student perceptions of the value they bring to APPE sites.

INTRODUCTION: Partner institutions invest much time and effort into educating pharmacy students, and ideally students should be viewed as valuable to those sites. Prior studies have demonstrated the perceptions that preceptors and administrators have about the value of students at their sites. However, students' perceptions of their own value at practice sites have not been described. Students do have perceptions about their own value to sites, and such information could be useful in learning about potential areas in which students perceive they are making an impact on patient care. METHODS: Five hundred qualitative student responses to an evaluation question regarding perceived value were analyzed from a United States pharmacy school. Nineteen categories of value were extracted. Responses fit into multiple categories, resulting in 783 data points for analysis. The categories were analyzed overall and with respect to advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) type (acute care, community, hospital, ambulatory care, and elective). Descriptive statistics were used. RESULTS: Providing patient counseling (15.7%) and therapeutic recommendations (14.7%) were the highest perceived values. In adult acute care and hospital APPEs, "providing therapeutic recommendations" (24.4% and 19.1% respectively) were rated highest. In community, ambulatory care, and elective APPEs, "providing patient counseling" (25%, 23%, and 13.8%, respectively) was highest rated. CONCLUSIONS: Students perceive they are valuable to practice sites in several ways. These results demonstrate that students' self-reported perceptions of the value they bring to their sites are consistent with other literature reports based on perception of preceptors regarding student value to patient care.

Exploratory Analysis of Entrustable Professional Activities as a Performance Measure During Early Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Objective. To examine entrustable professional activities (EPAs) as an assessment tool for student pharmacists completing early practice experiences. Methods. Students completed a 2-month practice experience upon conclusion of their first year. Student performance on EPAs was assessed by preceptors and students at the midpoint and conclusion of the experience using a scale that ranged from dependent (1.0) to independent (5.0). Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test assessed for differences between the midpoint and final evaluations on student self-evaluations and between the midpoint and final evaluation on preceptor-student evaluations. Cronbach's α assessed reliability of the EPAs. Results. From May to August 2016, 147 students completed a practice experience. Student-self and preceptor-student evaluations at the midpoint and final approximated a median score of 3.0 (IQR 2) and 4.0 (IQR 3), respectively, on EPAs 1-14. Analyses revealed statistically significant increases from midpoint to final evaluation for all constructs on both evaluations. Cronbach's α yielded scores of 0.98 for the preceptor evaluations and 0.95 for the student self-evaluation. Conclusion. There was an increase in student performance over time. The EPA statements may be a reliable assessment tool for student performance in pharmacy education.

Preceptor confidence and engagement in providing leadership activities to students in advanced pharmacy practice experiences.

INTRODUCTION: Preceptor perceptions about providing leadership activities during the fourth year of the doctor of pharmacy curriculum were examined. METHODS: An anonymous questionnaire was sent electronically to 610 preceptors of fourth year doctor of pharmacy students in August 2015 inquiring about confidence in leadership ability, extent of student engagement in leadership activities, and preceptor support needed. Differences based on leadership background, such as formal training, were examined using independent t-test. Continuous data are presented as mean (standard deviation). P-value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Survey response rate was 28% (n = 171). Preceptor confidence in ability to provide leadership activities was 7.38 + /-1.66 [0-10 Likert scale; 0 = cannot do at all, 10 = highly certain can do]. Preceptors were most confident teaching that leadership comes from those with and without titles (8.48 + /-1.64) and least confident engaging students in advocacy (5.41 + /-3.02). Preceptors were most likely to engage students in collaboration [3(1-4)] and least likely to involve them in advocacy [1(1-4)] (measured from 1-4 with 1 = never and 4 = very often). Preceptors with formal leadership training demonstrated higher confidence and more engagement with involving students in leadership activities than those without training (p < 0.05). Examples of common leadership activities shared by preceptors included experiential clinical activities and projects, teaching opportunities, discussions with leaders, and participation in meetings. Leadership training and development was the most requested type of support by preceptors (n = 23, 13.5%). CONCLUSION: Preceptors were overall confident about their ability to provide leadership activities, were involving students in some leadership activities, and had the least confidence and engagement in involving students in advocacy. Preceptors may consider increasing engagement in teaching student leadership skills by utilizing examples in this study. Colleges of pharmacy and organizations may collaborate to increase preceptor access to formal leadership training programs and offer preceptor development programs designed to enhance preceptors' abilities to facilitate student leadership experience, reflection on experience, and feedback.

Preceptor perceptions of fourth year student pharmacists' abilities regarding patient counseling on therapeutic lifestyle changes.

OBJECTIVE: Advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) provide an opportunity for students to showcase health and wellness knowledge and skills attained during didactic education. The primary objective of this study was to assess preceptor perceptions of how well pharmacy year four (PY4) students are prepared to provide guideline-based and patient-specific therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC) counseling at onset of an APPE rotation. A secondary objective included assessment of differences in counseling abilities if the preceptor considered the student normal weight versus overweight or obese, or if they were a known smoker. METHODS: A questionnaire containing Likert questions about perceptions regarding TLC counseling was distributed electronically in October 2014 to 708 PY4 preceptors from two pharmacy schools. Only preceptors who routinely provided TLC counseling were included in data analysis that were done using descriptive statistics. The project was approved by both universities' institutional review boards. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 165 PY4 preceptors (response rate = 23.3%), and 67 met inclusion criteria. Regarding nutrition counseling, a greater percentage of preceptors agreed that students more adequately provided counseling per guidelines (79.1%) versus individual patient needs (62.6%). Preceptors perceived students of normal weight were more likely to provide adequate lifestyle-modification counseling to overweight/obese patients (81%) compared to students that were overweight/obese themselves (69%). Students of normal weight were perceived to be more likely to adequately counsel normal weight patients on lifestyle modifications (81%) compared to students that were overweight/obese (64%). Students who smoked were perceived to adequately counsel about not smoking, though, to a lesser degree than students who were non-smokers. IMPLICATIONS: While students are perceived as adequately equipped to provide guideline-based recommendations, there is room for improvement in providing patient-specific counseling. Additionally, it is perceived that student health status related to weight impacts TLC counseling.

Introduction of a continuing professional development tool for preceptors: lessons learned.

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) guidelines state that preceptors should "have a systematic, self-directed approach to their own continuing professional development (CPD)." The objective of this study was to encourage preceptors to take advantage of the ACPE CPD resources and implement the concept of CPD (reflect, plan, act, evaluate, record) as a framework for guiding individual preceptor's continuing development as educators and to determine their opinion regarding the usefulness, effectiveness, and obstacles to implementation of this approach. A total of 3713 preceptors from the participating schools were encouraged to undergo CPD training and invited to respond to a series of questions. Of the initial respondents, 48% represented health system/hospital preceptors, followed by community/independent pharmacists (64 of 236, 28%). Preceptor respondents often train students from multiple schools/colleges (average = 1.9 schools/colleges per preceptor) and 90% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, "the CPD model, as learned in the webcasts, is beneficial for ongoing preceptor development." The general consensus was that the preceptor portfolio provided motivation to reflect, plan, and set more defined and realistic goals for students, residents, and themselves as educators and could be a valuable starting point for promoting preceptors' reflection, planning, and action related to rotation management, professional teaching, and student learning goals.

Characteristics of experiential education web sites of US colleges and schools of pharmacy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the characteristics of experiential education Web sites of colleges and schools of pharmacy in the United States. METHODS: The experiential education Web pages of 124 US colleges and schools of pharmacy were reviewed for office or program name, practice experience management software, experiential education newsletter, practice experience manual, preceptor development programs, new preceptor application processes, and interactive Web site interfaces. RESULTS: The term "office of experiential education" was used by 27.4% of colleges and schools. Fifty percent of the colleges and schools used E-value as their practice experience management software. Only a minority of colleges and schools made experiential manual(s) available online, offered newsletters targeted to preceptors, and/or provided Web site interactive interfaces for preceptor communication. The Preceptors Training and Resource Network was the preceptor development program most frequently promoted. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of US colleges and schools of pharmacy have official Web sites for their experiential education program; however, few offer resources online or use interactive or social media to their advantage.

Use of SMART learning objectives to introduce continuing professional development into the pharmacy curriculum.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a 2-year continuing professional development (CPD) training program improved first-year (P1) and second-year (P2) pharmacy students' ability to write SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed) learning objectives. DESIGN: First-year students completed live or online CPD training, including creating portfolios and writing SMART objectives prior to their summer introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE). In year 2, P1 and P2 students were included. SMART learning objectives were graded and analyzed. ASSESSMENT: On several objectives, the 2011 P1 students (n = 130) scored higher than did the P2 cohort (n = 105). In 2011, P2 students outscored their own performance in 2010. In 2011, P1 students who had been trained in online modules performed the same as did live-session trainees with respect to SMART objectives. CONCLUSION: With focused online or live training, students are capable of incorporating principles of CPD by writing SMART learning objectives.