An Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience for Community Pharmacies Based on a Clinical Intervention Targeting Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Experiential education is a critical component of any pharmacy undergraduate curriculum. Establishing new, high-quality practice sites can be challenging. We designed a new advanced pharmacy practice experiential rotation suitable for implementation in most community pharmacy settings. The aim of this article is to describe the design of this rotation entitled the Targeted Pharmacy Intervention in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (TPI-IBD) and to determine its impact on student knowledge and confidence using a before-after survey design. The TPI-IBD utilizes a student-delivered intervention as a platform for experiential learning in community pharmacy practice. The TPI was focused on patients with IBD, and implementation was guided by a co-preceptor from the university in collaboration with onsite-preceptors at each pharmacy. The TPI-IBD rotation was delivered from 6 community pharmacies during 5 weeks in 2018. Students conducted standardized monitoring on patients with IBD and met weekly with the university preceptor for case presentations and therapeutic discussions. Electronic charts were maintained by students who were responsible for ensuring detailed documentation on each patient. Knowledge, confidence, and overall satisfaction were assessed by a survey given to students before and after the rotation. Students were highly satisfied with the learning experience and improvements in knowledge and confidence were clearly demonstrated. The TPI strategy was an effective way to expand rotation options in community pharmacy sites with minimal burden on local preceptors.

Evaluation of a medication safety and adherence program within a First Nations community in Saskatchewan, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this mixed methods report was to describe a pharmacist intervention to support medication adherence of patients living with chronic health conditions in a First Nations community. SETTING: The intervention took place in a First Nations community health center. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: Multidisciplinary primary care clinic. PRACTICE INNOVATION: A pharmacist was integrated into the weekly primary care clinics to regularly monitor patients and address any medication-related issues. EVALUATION: The pharmacist intervention was evaluated qualitatively by using focus groups and interviews, and quantitatively by analyzing medication refill claims. RESULTS: The entire health care team believed that the support provided by the pharmacist encouraged the patients to take control of their health conditions and was beneficial to increasing patient self-management behaviors, including improved medication adherence. All staff appreciated the team-based model because it optimized appointment times and promoted better patient care. The patients valued having a pharmacist they trusted and with whom they had a relationship to address their concerns. In the 6 months after the date of the initial visit with the pharmacist, the median number of refill claims increased in comparison with the 6 months before. CONCLUSION: A clinical pharmacist contributes to improved satisfaction and medication adherence when integrated into a primary care team providing care in a First Nations community.