(311) Identifying Potential For Student Interaction With Medically Underserved Populations On Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences

Objective : To determine the potential for students to interact with and learn about medically underserved populations during introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs).

Methods: Preceptors were surveyed about the proportion of their patients at their site who were part of a medically underserved population based on the Health and Human Services definition. Students completed a medically underserved population IPPE when at least 20% of patients at that site were from medically underserved populations. A requirement to complete a medically underserved population IPPE was implemented with the graduating class of 2026.

Results: All students in the graduating class of 2026 (n=96) have either completed or are enrolled in a medically underserved population IPPE. In their P1 year, 75 (78.1%) students completed a medically underserved population IPPE. In their P2 year, 53 (55.2%) students completed a medically underserved population IPPE; 12 (12.5%) of those students newly completed their required medically underserved population IPPE. The remaining 9 (9.4%) students are enrolled to complete a medically underserved population IPPE in their P3 year. Among the medically underserved population IPPEs completed, the largest medically underserved population category was Medicaid eligible (27.2% of patients) followed by patients with significant disability (17%), patients who are uninsured (14.3%), and patients who are Black (13.9%).

Conclusions: There are many opportunities for students to serve medically underserved populations while on IPPEs. Future directions include determining the impact and student learning by interacting with medically underserved populations during IPPEs. This process can be reproduced by other pharmacy programs in preparation for the 2025 ACPE Accreditation Standards related to mitigating health disparities and navigating cultural and structural factors.