Reimagining the Professional Student Experience
Responding to the influences of the pandemic, innovations in teaching and learning, and changes in health care, the college has set a course to “reimagine” the learning experience offered via our PharmD program. We are excited about the design that is highly integrated and organized into blocks (as opposed to traditional courses). The design employs an instructional approach that anchors student learning in patient and system problems clearly connected to eight areas of science and to the roles and tasks of pharmacists. We recently achieved a major milestone with faculty and staff endorsing the program blueprint, which outlines learning objectives, core concepts, and emphasized areas of science for each block. We are now moving into the detailed design process for each block, preparing to launch the next experience with the Class of 2027 which begins their journey this fall semester.
Over the past several months, a team of faculty leaders has engaged a wide range of stakeholders, including faculty, staff and students as well as preceptors and alumni. We greatly appreciated input, feedback and the general positive support for the proposed program directions. As we move into block design, we will continue to receive input from external groups, including a group of “Preceptor Consultants” that represents several pharmacy practice settings. This group will review and provide input on topics and the cases that will frame the instruction of those topics.
Consistent with the rapid pace of change in health care, we are moving quickly with design and implementation, adopting teaching and learning approaches that are transformational (rather than incremental) and creating systems that will allow us to continuously evaluate and adapt the learning experience longitudinally.