A Call to Embrace Disability in Pharmacy Education.

Creating a welcoming and supportive environment for learners with disabilities needs to be a focus within pharmacy education. Including students with disabilities enhances program diversity and contributes to awareness and understanding of disability. Barriers to embracing disability include stigma toward disability, insufficient resource allocation, and misunderstanding of accommodations. Steps that need to be taken to embrace disability include evaluation of current programmatic culture, provision of education, and collaboration with external stakeholders. Schools/colleges of pharmacy must move toward a framework that embraces disability within our programs.

Virtual site visits - an emerging option for experiential quality assurance.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Site visits are a valuable tool for experiential quality assurance. There is sparse literature regarding the use of a virtual modality for completion of site visits. This manuscript describes the experience of using of onsite and virtual site visits, including benefits and limitations of each approach, by two pharmacy experiential programs. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: Each experiential program utilizes both virtual and onsite visits to assess site quality, provide preceptor development, and connect with sites and preceptors. Information gathered and documentation processes are similar for both institutions for both visit modalities. The two pharmacy institutions differ in size, geographical location, number of experiential sites, and experiential department structure. FINDINGS: Based on site evaluator feedback from the two institutions, both visit modalities achieved the goals of evaluating sites for quality, fostering relationships with preceptors, and affording opportunities to provide preceptor development. Positive features of virtual site visits were increased flexibility with scheduling, expanded participation and engagement, increased efficiency, and decreased cost. Drawbacks noted with virtual site visits were challenges touring the site, decreased ability to observe group dynamics and culture, and participant multi-tasking. SUMMARY: A virtual approach to completing experiential site visits achieved programmatic goals. Utilizing a combination of virtual and onsite visits may facilitate a customized approach to navigating the advantages and disadvantages of each modality.

Didactic education for the deaf or hard of hearing learner in a pharmacy curriculum: Commentary.

INTRODUCTION: There is a long-standing commitment in higher education to provide parallel experiences for students with disabilities, including those with hearing disabilities or impairments. The commitment remains the same in professional pharmacy school education, with the objective to train competent clinical pharmacy practitioners. COMMENTARY: Limited literature exists to provide schools and colleges of pharmacy (S/COP) with best practices when accommodating students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHOH) in the didactic pharmacy curriculum. The authors will examine practices implemented at the COP to accommodate students with either a DHOH disability. IMPLICATIONS: Students who are DHOH in didactic pharmacy education require individualized assistance to help ensure success throughout the program. A collaborative approach between the student, disability resources, student affairs office, faculty, and staff help ensure accommodations are met and fosters a culture of inclusiveness.

Implementation of a series of advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) preparatory topics into a skills lab curriculum.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) play a significant role in readying students for professional practice. Factors beyond traditional knowledge and skills taught in the didactic curriculum may play a role in APPE success. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe an activity implemented within a third-year skills lab focused on APPE preparedness, the methods used, and student feedback related to the series. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: Experiential and skills lab faculty collaborated to generate advice for students regarding common misconceptions or areas of difficulty encountered on APPEs. The advice was developed into short topics that were paired with and presented at the start of most lab sessions with impromptu contributions from faculty and facilitators integrated at the time of delivery. FINDINGS: One hundred twenty-seven third-year pharmacy students (54% of the cohort) consented to complete a follow-up survey and provided feedback on the series. Most students agreed or strongly agreed with the elements evaluated, providing positive feedback for all ranked statements. Feedback from free-text response questions indicated that many students found all topics presented to be beneficial and suggested that topics of interest for the upcoming semester included advice regarding residencies/fellowships/employment, wellness, and communication with preceptors. SUMMARY: Student feedback indicated an overall perception of benefit and value from most respondents. Implementation of a similar series in other courses is a potential area for future study.

Experiential education for the deaf or hard of hearing learner in a pharmacy curriculum.

INTRODUCTION: Pharmacy educators are responsible for providing appropriate resources for students of all abilities to eliminate barriers to accessible learning. This commentary focuses on the need for schools of pharmacy to provide equally accessible learning for students who are deaf/hard of hearing, including within the area of experiential education, while highlighting the potential challenges and areas for opportunity. COMMENTARY: Experiential education settings present unique challenges for students who are deaf/hard of hearing and their pharmacy educators due to the variety of educational settings and different learning logistics associated with experiential education in contrast to the learning environment of the classroom. Pandemic conditions have brought additional challenges since masks have limited the ability for students to lip read. The team has identified several resources to assist in the experiential setting. IMPLICATIONS: In order to provide equally accessible experiential education for students who are deaf/hard of hearing, it is imperative that pharmacy educators work together with other stakeholders such as disability resource centers, experiential site preceptors, and information technology departments to address associated challenges. Lack of literature concerning students with disabilities and experiential education programs in the health sciences shows that this is an area in need of further research and study in order to advance understanding and provide accessible learning for students with diverse needs.