(34) Creating a Cross-College Advocacy Elective Experience

Objective : Literature has shown that Colleges of Pharmacy highly rank the importance of training our students in advocacy efforts, and that it can be highly impactful to provide electives in this field. Legislative success is frequently limited by the finite number of practicing pharmacists, as well as varying pharmacy interests limiting our ability to lobby with a single message. Pharmacy educators in Ohio created an elective to encourage our students to advocate for our profession together. Demonstrating how advocacy can occur collaboratively across interests and institutions.

Methods: In the fall of 2023, four colleges in Ohio partnered to offer a cross-college, joint elective in an effort to provide a comprehensive approach to pharmacy advocacy education. A hybrid-learning model was utilized to prepare student pharmacists to advocate for contemporary pharmacist legislative issues. Topics included basics of US government, how to identify and contact your state representatives, current legislative priorities in pharmacy practice, and how to prepare for and conduct a visit to your state legislators. The highlight of the course was a visit to the Ohio Statehouse, in collaboration with the Ohio Pharmacists Association, in which students met with Senators and State Representatives to advocate for current issues in pharmacy practice.

Results: This course enrolled 36 students across 4 University campuses. The course will be offered again in 2024, with six out of the seven Ohio Colleges of pharmacy showing interest in participating. Students stated the largest area for improvement was additional interactions with their peers throughout the duration of the course.

Conclusions: Implementing a cross-college advocacy elective was a feasible high-impact learning experience that emphasized the importance of legislative advocacy, and was well received by student pharmacists.