(199) Updates to a Required APPE Readiness Course Series in a Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum

Objective : Didactic preparation of Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students is essential for experiential practice. ACPE Standards 2016 describe the need to teach PharmD students knowledge and skills to be ready prior to Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs); however, limited literature describes how this is completed and assessed at different PharmD programs [Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning 2020;12(7):771-5.]. The purpose of this project is to describe the continuation and updates made to a required APPE Readiness course series taught to third-year PharmD students.

Methods: The APPE Readiness courses were two required 1.5 credit hour 16-week third-year PharmD courses taught for the second time at Keck Graduate Institute. The courses contained knowledge and skills necessary for students to succeed on APPEs, including journal club and patient case presentations, professionalism, calculations and law reviews, and brand/generic medication names review. Students were assessed by standardized rubrics for journal club presentations and patient presentation-based objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), containing disease states from previous/current courses the students took, and a final examination containing course materials and disease state topics seen commonly in clinical practice. Towards completion of the second APPE Readiness course, students were assessed with the Pre-NAPLEX.

Results: The APPE Readiness course series was taught at Keck Graduate Institute from August 2021 to May 2022. Averages of each course OSCE were 94.57% and 87.86% respectively. Final examination averages were 78.07% and 77.82% respectively. The average Pre-NAPLEX scaled score was 57.37.

Conclusions: Students in the APPE Readiness course series demonstrated proficiency in both pharmacy knowledge and skills needed for APPE Readiness. Further research is needed to determine if there is any correlation between APPE Readiness course series, APPE, and board performance.