(315) Let Me Be Your Guide! Supporting Student Success in APPEs with a Faculty Guidance Team

Objective : To describe the (1) development of a faculty guidance team to support student success during advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) and (2) outcomes from the Class of 2023 cohort at one school of pharmacy.

Methods: A faculty guidance team was developed to connect practice faculty who teach in the didactic curriculum with experiential education (EE) staff to support and advise the APPE Program Manager on APPE course content and student progress. The guidance team was comprised of five faculty with experience in the four practice settings required by accreditation standards. The guidance team met as needed during the 2022-2023 academic year to address student performance concerns. When concerns arose, the team reviewed anonymized evaluations from preceptors and written statements from students and developed an individualized plan to address the specific area(s) of concern.

Results: A total of 94 students started APPEs during the 2022-2023 year. Of the 94 students, there were 5 (5.3%) students who were discussed by the faculty guidance team who inconsistently met expectations with ≥2 APPEs. Student concerns included accountability (attitude, self-awareness) (n= 2), communication (n =1), critical thinking (n = 2), and knowledge retention (n = 2). Five students were required to complete an individualized remedial process. All students passed their remedial process and graduated on time.

Conclusions: Collaboratively, the faculty guidance team and EE staff developed a remedial process to support student success in APPEs. Based on this model, the role of the guidance team has become more defined. Faculty members have been appointed as co-course coordinators for APPE courses aligned with their practice experience. Future directions include supporting student transition from didactic education to APPEs.