(14) Assessing APPE Readiness: Feedback from Core Rotation Preceptors Using the ACCP Pharmacotherapy Didactic Curriculum Toolkit

Objective : To assess APPE readiness at the programmatic level through utilization of the 2019 ACCP Pharmacotherapy Didactic Curriculum Toolkit and feedback from core rotation preceptors.

Methods: Preceptors of ≥3 APPE students over the past 2 years were invited to participate in a survey evaluating fourth-year pharmacy student preparation for APPEs in all toolkit tier 1 and select tier 2 topics (ie, where optimization of pharmacotherapy is expected of pharmacists upon graduation in our region). For each of the 105 topics included, preceptors indicated whether students generally were APPE ready (ie, can competently provide collaborative, patient-centered care at the start of their rotation), not APPE ready, or the topic was not applicable to the rotation. Comments were solicited for “not APPE ready” responses.

Results: The survey was sent to 67 preceptors, of which 58.2% responded. There were 22 topics where ≥20% of preceptors perceived students were not APPE ready. Notably, 7 of these (31.2%) were tier 2 topics. Responses and comments indicated that APPE readiness was lower for inpatient topics. Summarized data were shared with faculty to assist them in critically evaluating the appropriate placement and depth and breadth of coverage in the curriculum and the types of pedagogies and assessments used for flagged topics. Quality improvement initiatives currently underway at both the programmatic and course levels include outpatient and inpatient teams to develop a College-specific tiered topics toolkit, intentional curricular scaffolding, team-based learning and other embedded application activities, and standardized content mapping during annual course review.

Conclusions: APPE preceptor feedback on ACCP Pharmacotherapy Didactic Curriculum Toolkit topics provided useful insights into improving the didactic curriculum to better prepare pharmacy students for APPEs.