Sustainability of a Practice-based Interprofessional Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience Course
Objective. To describe a successfully sustained interprofessional introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) in which third-year pharmacy students were paired with nonpharmacist practitioners. Methods. Course data were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed to reveal details about the program. Provider participant numbers and student perception data were reviewed and reported on. Results. The number of students and providers participating increased during the 13 years of the program. On average, preceptors participated for 3 years and hosted 4 pharmacy students. Students consistently agreed the course helped increase student communication competencies and integration into interdisciplinary practice (mean agreement of 88.4% and 91.6%, respectively). Conclusion. A required interprofessional IPPE course designed to develop students’ self-confidence working and communicating with nonpharmacist practitioners has been successfully sustained for more than a decade. Students report improvements in self-confidence and achievement of the course’s primary outcomes.