An advanced pharmacy practice experience in public health.
OBJECTIVE
To develop and implement an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) that would increase students' awareness of, acceptance of, and ability to apply public health concepts in pharmaceutical care.


METHODS
A 6-week APPE was developed that utilized a wide variety of activities including written assignments, role-play, direct patient care, reflective writing, and community outreach to explore various public health issues and their relation to the practice of pharmacy. To determine the students' perception of learning, a 5-question survey instrument was sent to students upon completion of the experience


RESULTS
The results of the survey indicated high satisfaction with the APPE in a variety of different domains including provision of pharmaceutical care, providing patient education, exercising cultural competency, referring to community resources, and utilizing medication assistance programs.


CONCLUSIONS
The advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) provides students a unique opportunity to develop skills important to the practice of public health and expand understanding of the role of pharmacist in the public health setting.
Patterson
Brooke Y
BY
School of Pharmacy, University of Missouri-Kansas City, MO 64108, USA. pattersonby@umkc.edu
D002321:Career Choice; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services; D054521:Cultural Competency; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D008923:Missouri; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods*; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education*; D012381:Role Playing; D013339:Students, Pharmacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires