PHPR 595: Practice Advancement Clerkship
INTRODUCTION
The Practice Advancement Clerkship (PAC) will be an elective rotation
in the Doctor of Pharmacy Program satisfying one of the advanced clerkship
requirements. It will be available to students who are practicing pharmacy
(either as a licensed pharmacist or an apprentice) and will continue
to practice at the same site at least part time throughout the time
they are completing their Pharm.D. clerkships. The PAC is designed
to foster application of learning through the students’ identification,
justification, development, evaluation, and implementation of new pharmaceutical
care services or programs in their practice settings. The intent is
for these services or programs to become ongoing pharmaceutical care
services which advance practice at the practice sites. Each student
opting for the PAC will be assigned a faculty preceptor to supervise,
mentor, and evaluate the clerkship activities.
GOAL
The goal for this clerkship is to provide the Pharm.D. student a chance
to apply principles of pharmaceutical care service development through
the actual implementation of such a service at the student’s site of
practice. This will enhance the learning of this process by the student
while advancing practice at the site.
OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of the PAC, the student will be able to:
1. recognize and establish the need for specific pharmaceutical care
services in a pharmacy setting in which the student is practicing.
2. develop the structure and procedures under which the identified
program will function.
3. justify the program on an economic basis to financial administrator(s)
of the practice site.
4. develop and carry out the process for instituting the program at
the practice site.
5. develop a plan for evaluation of the program outcomes relative to
both patient care and resource utilization.
The objectives will be met in sequential order. A written report detailing
each objective 1 through 5 will be submitted by the student to the
faculty at the completion of each objective.
HOW THE PAC WILL BE CONDUCTED
The PAC will be an available elective clerkship for any Non-traditional
Doctor of Pharmacy student who is currently in practice in a pharmacy
and has the written approval of that practice site to pursue development
and initial implementation of a proposed pharmaceutical care service.
It is recognized that actual implementation and continuation of the
service will be contingent upon approval through appropriate channels
at the practice site. The intent is for the service developed for this
clerkship to become an ongoing pharmaceutical care service of the pharmacy
where the student is employed. In this way the student not only gains
hands-on experience developing pharmaceutical care services but also
advances practice at the site. The student must also have the proposed
service/project approved by the PAC Coordinator and the Director of
the Pharm.D. program (who coordinates all clerkships for both traditional
and non-traditional students).
Each student opting for the PAC will be assigned a faculty preceptor
to supervise, advise, and evaluate the activities. This preceptor will
be either a Pharmacy Administration faculty member or a clinical faculty
member (affiliate, adjunct or tenure-track), who does not practice
at the site where the project is to be developed. The faculty preceptor
and student will coordinate planning and implementation activities
closely with practice site personnel.
The PAC will be completed over a 4-8 month period (rather than the
usual four week block of time for other clerkships) while the student
is enrolled in other, traditional clerkships and/or is continuing to
work at their principal site of practice. If the student is enrolled
in the Non-traditional Pharm.D. Program, the seven, traditional four
week clerkships are usually scheduled periodically throughout an 18-24
month period, and the student works full time between each rotation.
It is anticipated that most of the work on the PAC would occur during the
times between traditional clerkships. If the student is enrolled in
the full time Pharm.D. program, the student’s clerkship schedule must
be arranged with open blocks to allow the student time to complete
the PAC objectives without impinging on performance in classical clerkships.
The student would progress through the objectives with guidance from
the preceptor, accomplishing all objectives by the end of the last
semester of his/her other scheduled clerkships. Contact between the
student and preceptor will include monthly progress discussions but
would also likely include many phone calls, faxes, e-mail, and drop-in
meetings as needed. Visits to the practice site by the preceptor will
occur before the PAC begins, after completion of Clerkship Objective
3 but before beginning Clerkship Objective 4, and any other times as
deemed appropriate by the preceptor.
STUDENT REGISTRATION
To request a PAC, the student must present, in writing, a brief description
of the proposed service/program to be developed and a letter
from the Director of Pharmacy, Store Manager, or other administrative
authority from the student’s practice site that he/she supports the
student’s efforts to develop said service/program and that there is
a reasonable likelihood that the service/program would be implemented.
The PAC Coordinator with input from the Director of the Pharm.D. program
will evaluate the student’s request. If the request is approved, the
student will be registered for the PAC for the semester in which the
student will complete the PAC or the semester in which his/her
other clerkship requirements will be completed, whichever is sooner.
Once the student is registered for the PAC, the PAC Coordinator will
assign a preceptor to mentor the student for the clerkship.
STUDENT AND PRECEPTOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Once assigned, it will be the preceptor’s responsibility to meet with
the student to discuss the PAC and the student’s project idea, to outline
the requirements for the written reports for each objective, and to
establish a firm timetable for completion of the PAC. Included in this
timetable will be reasonable deadlines for completion of each objective
and submission of the student’s written reports and dates for meetings,
calls, and other contacts between the preceptor and the student as
well as the dates for the preceptor’s visits to the practice site.
It will be the student’s responsibility to submit a written copy of
this timetable to the PAC Coordinator.
In order to complete the objectives, the student will likely be required
to collect demographic and fiscal data on the practice site, examine
the literature for like services/programs established elsewhere, attend
meetings with administrators and staff, and apply regulatory and accreditation
standards to the service/program being developed. It is the preceptor’s
responsibility to raise these and other pertinent issues to the student
as the PAC progresses.
EVALUATION METHODS
The preceptor will evaluate the student and provide feedback on his/her
progress either in written or verbal form during completion of each
objective and using a standard evaluation form at the completion of
each objective and the PAC as a whole. This form will examine the student’s
thoroughness and creativity in addressing each objective and the practicality
of the approach for ultimate approval of the service or program.
COMPLETION
The PAC must be completed one semester prior to the semester of graduation.
COST
The student will be assessed a course fee for the academic credit awarded
