(49) Evaluating Pharmacy Student Perspectives of Compliance Aids and Devices through an Ambulatory Care Simulation

Objective : This immersive multimodal experience was designed to evaluate pharmacy students' perspectives and attitudes by simulating a patient responsible for managing chronic disease states with and without the use of compliance aids and devices.

Methods: A total of 35 pharmacy students attending the University of Florida College of Pharmacy enrolled in the 2-week ambulatory care elective and therefore participated in this simulation. For the first week of the simulation, students were responsible for adhering to a complex medication regimen from their associated pill bottles and self-monitoring of blood glucose via finger-stick glucometer and diabetic testing supplies. For the second week of the simulation, students were then required to use a medication compliance aid and a continuous glucose monitor. After the simulation, students were provided with a voluntary survey to elicit their perspectives on the domains of glucose monitoring, medication adherence, and overall clinical implications.

Results: The majority of students (>80%) strongly agreed that the contrasted use of compliance aids against traditional methods improved blood glucose monitoring, medication adherence, and attitudes towards ambulatory care patients.

Conclusions: This immersive simulation provided insight into the student perspective by directly comparing the management of chronic disease states with and without the use of compliance aids and devices. As there is still a large portion of patients without access to these resources, this recognition by these students brought into focus this gap in healthcare and how it can greatly affect some of the most vulnerable patients.