Teaching the Patient Care Process

Scholarly Aim: Faculty at the University of Minnesota are working to enhance and clarify the use and teaching of the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process.

The University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy has a rich history in advancing practice. From it's ground-breaking work in clinical pharmacy to its investment in Pharmaceutical Care Practice, the College continues to help broaden the pharmacist's scope of practice. Simultaneously, we have worked to advance the exposure of our students to new models of care with the goal of "early and often".

Working to Create a Common Language

There is a lack of specificity in defining the clinical intervention delivered by pharmacists and this creates a challenge in creating consistency in practice. The "Usable Innovation" framework was used to create a definition for CMM that meets implementation science criteria for defining an innovation with specificity to produce fidelity across practitioners.

The Patient Care Process for Delivering Comprehensive Medication Management [common language]

2019 Article on the Practice Management Components

PPCP Teaching/Learning Methods Used at the U of M College of Pharmacy

The practice of comprehensive medication management is comprised of three foundational components: 1) a philosophy of practice; 2) a clearly defined patient care process; and 3) a framework for effective and efficient management of the practice. Our faculty are working to advance all three components in practice and to teach all three components to students.

2020 Article on The Pharmacist Does What?

2016 Article: Concept mapping, reflective writing, and patchwork text assessment are evaluated in their effectiveness as a combination of learning tools to help students understand their growth in understanding the complexities of the patient care process over the course of one semester.

2018 Article on Peer Teaching:  Second-year students introduce the Pharmaceutical Care Model to first-year students and then discuss the curriculum in small groups. The effectiveness of this method of peer teaching is then evaluated.

2020 Article on an Early IPPE:  Pharmacy students spend time following a practitioner while learning about and taking part in the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process. The experience is evaluated for evidence of transformative learning.

Challenging the Academy: Why teaching the PPCP alone is not enough

Although teaching the PPCP is an integral part of a pharmacy students' education, they must also learn about philosophy of practice and practice management to be fully prepared for a career in pharmacy.

2017 Article on the Pharmaceutical Care Framework

2017 Article on the Philosophy of Practice of Practitioners

2018 Letter on Teaching the Philosophy of Practice

2020 Article on First Year Students’ Philosophy of Practice

2021 Article on First Year Residents’ Philosophy of Practice

Teaching Support

2019 Article on Threshold Concepts for the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process

Identifying threshold concepts for patient care allows implicit aspects of patient care to become more explicit. 

2019 Article on This is How I Think discussing the need for consistency in the profession of pharmacy and how preceptors must incorporate the PPCP into their teaching

2020 Article on Intentional Teaching of a Consistent Practice for Patient Care

As expectations grow for pharmacists entering the work force, educators must prioritize consistency when teaching the unique pharmaceutical care process.

2022 Article on Addressing Hidden Curricula that Subvert Learning the PPCP