Pharmacy students' application of knowledge from the classroom to introductory pharmacy practice experiences

Abstract

Objective. To determine whether and how pharmacy students used knowledge learned in the classroom during their introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) in community and hospital settings. Design. To reinforce course concepts and make connections between coursework and practice, students documented examples of how knowledge from first-year courses was used in IPPEs. Assessment. Data submitted were categorized by classroom-based pharmacy course, including the frequency with which each course was cited. For community practice experiences, most student examples of knowledge application related to the self-care therapeutics course, pharmacy practice laboratory course, and dose form/compounding laboratory courses. Hospital IPPE examples were most frequently based on the pharmaceutical calculations course, physiology/pathophysiology course, medicinal chemistry course, and pharmacy practice laboratory course. Conclusion. All prior classroom-based pharmacy courses were cited by students as being useful during IPPEs, although some were more frequently cited than others. This activity provided useful programmatic assessment data.