(80) Longitudinal Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience and Quality Improvement: Innovation and Impact

Objective : Describe the impact of a longitudinal, rural introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) on student engagement and learning when introducing quality improvement (QI) and scholarship.

Methods: A hybrid (onsite/remote) rural IPPE including a QI project was offered as a component of Community Health. Reflective essays of five students were coded independently by two reviewers. Reviewers evaluated engagement in learning through exploratory case series design with thematic qualitative analysis using Bloom’s taxonomy of categories of cognitive processes of learning, and mapping to the AACP Curriculum Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) 2022. Quantitative outcomes were demonstrated through scholarship.

Results: Across Bloom’s taxonomy, reflective essays captured learning in all skills, with all indicating learning across knowledge, comprehension, and application. With increasing complexity, representation of higher-level skills diminished. All COEPA educational outcomes were represented when reviewing reflections. Essays of all students indicate representation of objectives: learner, problem solver, communicator, ally, provider, and professional. Reflective essay as an assignment modality encourages self-awareness. While not explicitly referenced by all essays, promotor and collaborator were emphasized through citation of QI project impact on the patient population and interprofessional opportunities. A poster abstract of the QI project was accepted at a national meeting.

Conclusions: Engaging students in a longitudinal rural practice experience, and structuring QI, fosters learning across all Bloom’s taxonomy skills, with appropriately diminishing examples of learning skills across reflections as skill complexity increases. This innovation provides an opportunity for learning across the COEPA outcomes and facilitates participation in scholarly activity.