Faculty perceptions of a town hall model for engagement in continuous quality improvement.

INTRODUCTION: To determine faculty perceptions of participating in a town hall model on the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Faculty Curriculum Quality Surveys (CQS) focused on continuous quality improvement (CQI) at two institutions. METHODS: To support a culture of assessment focused on CQI, Ferris State University College of Pharmacy (FSUCOP) developed and implemented a town hall model for use with the CQS in fall 2017. It was determined that involving faculty in the CQS analysis process may assist with interpretation and CQI. FSUCOP sought to determine if the CQI model utilized could also be implemented at another institution. Therefore, Cedarville University School of Pharmacy (CUSOP) replicated the FSUCOP town hall model for use in 2018-2019 academic year CQS data interpretation and dissemination. To determine the perceptions of efficacy, faculty at FSUCOP and CUSOP received a pre-survey prior to the fall 2018 town hall and a post-survey following completion of the town hall. The pre- and post-surveys utilized five-point, Likert-type agreement questions (strongly disagree to strongly agree). RESULTS: A total of 47 and 26 faculty completed the pre- and post-surveys, respectively. Faculty agreement on the survey items increased after participating in the town hall. Nearly 81% of faculty strongly or somewhat agreed the town hall model was a good use of their time. CONCLUSION: The town hall model was replicable at another institution. Faculty perceived the town hall model as a positive approach to CQI, and discussions provided assessment personnel with valuable information for data interpretation and usage.

An initial environmental scan of APPE readiness assessment.

INTRODUCTION: Standards 2016 require schools/colleges of pharmacy (s/cop) to assess students' readiness to enter advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). However, literature describing how schools are meeting this standard is limited. The purpose of this study was to conduct an environmental scan to describe how s/cop assess student readiness to enter APPEs. METHODS: A web-based survey was distributed to assessment leads at United States s/cop, regardless of accreditation status. Respondents answered questions related to their current approach to assessing student APPE readiness, existence of intentional assessment plans, competencies used, assessment methods, benchmarks, and remediation strategies. Aggregate data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Fifty-two S/COP (36.1%) responded. The majority (90.1%) were fully accredited schools. Most respondents have an intentional APPE readiness plan (73.5%), although the duration since implementation varied. There was no consensus among schools on which competencies informed APPE readiness with 67.3% listing Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) 2013 outcomes, 61.2% Guidance for Standards 2016 Appendix A, 53.1% pre-APPE domains (Standards 2007), and 30.6% Entrustable Professional Activities. Twenty-eight S/COP (57.1%) reported having individual student-level data to assess student APPE readiness. The most common methods for validating student APPE readiness were preceptor (48.9%) and student (44.9%) surveys. CONCLUSIONS: This environmental scan begins to identify trends in how S/COP is approaching the assessment of student readiness to begin APPEs. Further research is needed to identify best practices and practical methods to ensure compliance with current accreditation standards.