Experiential Education Program

At the midpoint of each semester during the first year of the PharmD program, students spend a 40 hour week in a community pharmacy. This experience is designed to familiarize pharmacy students with community practice fundamentals.

At the midpoint of each semester during the second year of the PharmD program, students spend a 40 hour week in a hospital pharmacy setting. This experience is designed to familiarize pharmacy students with hospital practice fundamentals.

Throughout one of the third-year semesters or during a two-week period at the midpoint of a semester, students spend 80 hours at one of many possible practice settings providing direct patient care. Students contribute to patient care processes based on student abilities.

Throughout one of the third-year semesters or during a two-week period at the midpoint of a semester, students spend 80 hours at one of many possible direct patient care practice settings. Students engage in projects that contribute to the advancement of a quality improvement (QI) project at any practice site. Students learn about the QI project and the site's overall approach to quality.

The Acute Care APPE takes place in a hospital setting, providing patient care on a variety of units/floors. Through supervised observation and practice, students develop and explore their roles on an interprofessional health team. Students attend clinical rounds, take medication histories, monitor drug therapy, provide patient education, and research patient-specific drug information questions.

The Institutional APPE takes place in a hospital setting, focusing on medication access and use. Building on the institutional IPPE experience, students focus on advancing their knowledge and skills in the distributive and operational side of hospital practice. Students participate in fulfilling medication orders, overseeing operations, and engaging in initiatives that minimize adverse events and errors.

The Ambulatory Care APPE takes place in outpatient settings including clinics, pharmacies, managed care organizations, and health/wellness companies. Through observation and practice, students develop and explore their roles in an interdisciplinary health team and participate in a variety of patient care activities with the pharmacy preceptor and, often, the medical team. Students participate in clinical care conferences, take medication histories, monitor drug therapy including performing physical assessments, provide patient education, and research patient-specific drug information questions.

The Community APPE takes place in a community pharmacy, focusing on medication access and use. Building on the Community IPPE experience, emphasis is placed on integrating principles of pharmaceutical care and pharmaceutical sciences with practice situations (prescription processing, pharmacy administration, OTCs, pharmacy law, etc.). Learning outcomes focus on both distributive and patient care activities. 

The Elective APPEs take place in a variety of settings ranging from research to governmental agencies to pharmacy associations to specialized practices. Most APPE sites for the four required APPE types also offer elective APPEs to advance skills even further in those settings. These APPEs allow students to further explore settings related to their career interests and goals. A maximum of two electives can take place in non-patient care settings.