(313) Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences in Ambulatory Care Practice: Perceptions of First- and Second-Year Pharmacy Students

Objective : To assess first-year (P1) and second-year (P2) pharmacy students’ understanding of ambulatory care (AC) clinical pharmacy practice after a single morning exposure compared to students without an exposure and whether this generated interest in clinical practice.

Methods: Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) are commonly scheduled within community and institutional settings. The AC-faculty investigator hosted P1/P2 IPPE students for a single morning exposure to the AC setting. Students who attended AC exposures and those who did not were retrospectively surveyed to assess perceptions of their understanding of community, institutional, inpatient clinical, and AC practices. Participants provided their own definitions of each practice setting and then rated whether IPPE experiences improved understanding and career consideration of each practice setting on a 5-point Likert scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree).

Results: Over two years, 37 students attended an AC exposure, and 17 completed the survey. Responses were compared to 18 control-student responses who did not have an AC exposure. Evaluation of definitions revealed more (p <.001) students with an AC exposure (67.1%) appropriately defined AC practice versus control students (30.0%). Highly significant increases in mean ratings were found for understanding AC (p <.001) and inpatient clinical (p <.001) settings, and for career considerations for AC (p=.015) and inpatient clinical (p=.010) settings after IPPEs. No differences (p>.05) in these measures were found regarding community or institutional settings. Significantly more students with AC exposures reported good understanding of AC clinical pharmacy (p <.001) and in considering a career in AC practice (p=.046) as compared to control students.

Conclusions: A single AC exposure can improve student explanation and self-perceived understanding of AC practices, as well as increase consideration of a career in that setting.