(74) Evaluation of APPE Hesitation Failure Among Preceptors

Objective : This purpose of this research was to investigate preceptor opinions of failing APPE students and underlying reasons why preceptors may or may not be hesitant to fail an APPE student.

Methods: All APPE Preceptors at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy (UM) and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy (UAMS) were eligible for study participation and were recruited via email. Participants were asked to complete a 23-item Qualtrics survey evaluating perceptions of giving a failing score to APPE students. Descriptive statistics were performed on the data that was collected.

Results: A total of 404 individuals participated in the survey, however not every respondent answered all 23 questions. Preceptors represented UM (114), UAMS (286), and undeclared individuals (4). Of those who completed the survey, 32 (7.9%) reported that they had failed a student, 318 (78.7%) reported that they had never failed a student, and 54 (13.4%) reported that they had not failed a student, though they felt as if they should have.

Conclusions: Accurately grading APPE students is critical for student success, but is inherently fraught with nuance, psychological bias, preceptor grading variation, and barriers to failing low performing students. These findings confirm anecdotal suggestions that most preceptors have not failed a student on rotation, despite some feeling as though they should have. Future research should seek to identify ways in which preceptors can be empowered to justly failing students.