Experiential Education

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Rosalind Franklin University College of Pharmacy students benefit from experiential education through exposure to a number of career path options our graduates have. We connect students to practitioners who involve students in their chosen profession in a contemporary setting.

Our Experiential Education includes introductory and advanced pharmacy practices experiences in a variety of settings.

Please refer to the Experiential Education Manual for all policies and procedures.

Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs)

The Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs) are designed to provide the foundation for the student pharmacists in preparation for their Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs).

P1 Required IPPEs

This course is a structured introduction to pharmacy practice in a community pharmacy setting. The Community IPPE spans the P1 year, during which the students will engage in basic distributive and administrative processes in community pharmacies and gain initial experience interacting directly with patients, preceptors, technicians, and other health care providers and pharmacy personnel.

YPHP 515 is a longitudinal rotation experience, during which the students will complete onsite hours during the fall, winter and spring quarters in a community pharmacy with an additional hour allocated for reflection activity documentation. Students also participate in simulation and co-curricular ‘C3’ activities that complement the concurrent experiential and didactic curriculum. For additional details, please refer to and the .

P2 Required IPPEs

This course is a structured introduction to pharmacy practice in a health-system pharmacy setting. The Health-System IPPE spans the P2 year all students complete IPPE II in a health-system based setting.

The IPPE II experience is designed to provide a foundation to the distributive, clinical and administrative processes in place at health systems pharmacy. Students will gain interprofessional exposure by interacting with other health care professionals in addition to preceptors, technicians and pharmacy personnel. IPPE II is also a longitudinal experience, during which the students will complete on-site hours during the fall, winter and spring quarters, with one additional hour allocated for reflection activity documentation. Students also participate in simulation and co-curricular ‘C3’ activities that complement the concurrent experiential and didactic curriculum. For additional details, please refer to and the .

P3 Elective IPPEs

This course is structured to offer elective opportunities during the third year of the program. Elective opportunities are offered in a variety of pharmacy practice settings.

The P3 IPPE Elective will satisfy 80 hours of the 317 total hours in the Experiential Education curriculum. Students will complete these hours over the course of two weeks. Students will be scheduled during two of four allocated blocks of time during the P3 year, either prior to the start of the P3 year or during an intersession break. Students will also complete 7 hours of service learning during their P3 year. During P3 year, students will participate in the IPPE-APPE transition workshop that will serve to transition students from introductory to advanced pharmacy practice experiences, as well as simulation and co-curricular ‘C3’ activities that complement the concurrent experiential and didactic curriculum. For additional details, please refer to and the .

View course name below for P3 course-specific objectives:

Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs)

This course is structured to give students hands-on experience working a variety of areas during the fourth year. Each experience is six weeks in length. APPEs are designed to integrate, apply, reinforce, and advance the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values developed through the other components of the curriculum. APPEs fulfill at least 1440 hours of the curriculum. All students are required to complete six APPEs: four required APPEs, and two elective APPEs.

Students have six APPEs for a total of 1,440 hours in the following areas. Students also participate in simulation and co-curricular ‘C3’ activities and on the last day of each experience attend developmental sessions as part of the YPHP 800 Practical Approaches to Professional Development didactic course. Combined, these activities ensure preparation as practice-ready and team-oriented pharmacists and complement the concurrent experiential and didactic curriculum. For additional details, please refer to and the .

Required Experiences

    • Acute Care is a required APPE. This course is structured to give students hands-on experience working in an Acute Care pharmacy setting. The Acute Care APPE lasts 6 weeks (240 hours), during which the students will engage in patient-centered care, medication and disease management, and collaboration with other health care providers in a collaborative interprofessional setting. Students will enhance their experience interacting directly with patients, preceptors, and other health care providers. Documenting the care provided to patients and the impact on patient outcomes are integral to this experience.
    • Ambulatory Care is a required APPE. This course is structured to give students hands-on experience working in an Ambulatory Care pharmacy setting. The Ambulatory Care APPE lasts 6 weeks, during which the students will engage in patient-centered care, medication and disease management, and collaboration with other health care providers. Students will enhance their experience interacting directly with patients, preceptors, and other health care providers. Documenting the care provided to patients and the impact on patient outcomes are integral to this experience.
    • Community Pharmacy practice is a required APPE. This course is structured to give students hands-on experience working in a Community Pharmacy setting. The Community Pharmacy APPE lasts 6 weeks, during which the students will engage in patient care, distributive functions, and administrative processes in community pharmacies and enhance their experience interacting directly with patients, preceptors, technicians, and other health care providers and pharmacy personnel.
    • Health-Systems pharmacy practice is a required APPE. This course is structured to give students hands-on experience working in a Health-Systems pharmacy setting. The Health-Systems APPE lasts 6 weeks, during which the students will engage in patient care, distributive functions, and administrative processes in Health-Systems pharmacies and enhance their experience interacting directly with patients, preceptors, technicians, and other health care providers and pharmacy personnel.

Elective Experiences

    • Patient Care Elective opportunities are offered in a variety of pharmacy practice settings. This syllabus applies to Patient Care Elective rotation settings. The rotation should be structured to give students hands-on experience working in the respective setting. The elective APPE lasts 6 weeks.
    • Non-Patient Care Elective opportunities are offered in a variety of pharmacy practice settings. This syllabus applies to Non-Patient Care elective rotations. The rotation should be structured to give students hands-on experience working in the respective setting. The elective APPE lasts 6 weeks.

Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences Schedules

Contacts

Bradley Cannon, PharmD

Director Experiential Education, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice

Lisa Michener, PharmD, MS

Associate Director of Experiential Education, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice

Jolee Rosenkranz, MPH

Assistant Dean for Operations, Executive Director of Service Learning