US Pharm.
2006;5(Student suppl):10-11.
As colleges and schools of
pharmacy try to meet the high demand for pharmacists, many factors limit the
institutions' ability to increase class size. One very important factor is the
number of high-quality practice sites that are available to students. This is
often the "rate-limiting step" in determining the number of students that may
be admitted into a pharmacy program. In its Accreditation Standards and
Guidelines for the Professional Program in Pharmacy Leading to the Doctor of
Pharmacy Degree, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education indicates
that facilities of adequate number and quality should be available to deliver
introductory and advanced practice experiences outlined by the curriculum.
These advanced practice experiences are further described in the guidelines as
including a variety of practice areas such as inpatient and outpatient
services provided by institutional pharmacies, primary care sites, extended
care facilities, home health care units, health maintenance organizations,
health and welfare agencies, and community pharmacies.1
To accommodate the growing
need for advanced practice experience sites, colleges of pharmacy are forced
to expand into geographic areas that are far removed from their home campuses.
The ability of experience programs faculty to be available to students and
preceptors at remote sites is diminished because the travel time to these
areas extends beyond three or four hours. To better manage practice
experiences, the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy (UGA COP) and other
colleges of pharmacy have positioned remote faculty, designated as Regional
Coordinators, near their outlying practice experience sites. At the UGA COP,
four Regional Coordinators work within the Office of Experience Programs to
develop and maintain advanced practice experience sites in their area of the
state. Currently, UGA has Regional Coordinators in southeast, southwest, and
northeast Georgia, as well as Atlanta. These faculty members live and work in
their respective regions, and their duties are varied. This article discusses
the activities of these Regional Coordinators.
Outreach to potential pharmacy
students is an important component in the role of a Regional Coordinator.
Given the current shortage of pharmacists, particularly in rural and
underserved areas, it is imperative that information on careers in pharmacy be
disseminated to college and high school students so they become aware of the
various opportunities available to them as pharmacists. Similarly, relevant
material regarding the requirements of the prepharmacy and doctor of pharmacy
curriculum should be distributed to both potential students and career
counselors. The Regional Coordinator can be the first point of contact to
provide information on the pharmacy curriculum and field of pharmacy to local
students and teachers. Once this information has been supplied, high school
and college students will be more prepared to consider pharmacy as a viable
career path.
The Regional Coordinator
enables more efficient communication with potential preceptors. Remote faculty
members are in a unique position to learn of innovative practice sites within
their region. Because they are members of the local pharmacy communities,
their affiliation with pharmacy leaders and organizations allows Regional
Coordinators to discern if particular facilities or pharmacists would like to
develop a relationship with the college and work with pharmacy students.
Regional Coordinators are able to cultivate advanced practice experiences in
their locale by virtue of their knowledge of the sites and potential
preceptors. This facilitates building positive relationships between the
college and practicing pharmacists. Advanced practice experiences account for
approximately 25% of the doctor of pharmacy program. Up to 60% of all advanced
pharmacy practice experiences nationwide are taught by adjunct or volunteer
faculty.2 Presently, 109 pharmacy students in the fourth-year
pharmacy class at UGA will require 872 five-week advanced pharmacy practice
opportunities. By the year 2010, the fourth-year class is expected to have 150
students, who will require 1,200 five-week advanced pharmacy practice
experiences. Therefore, preceptor recruitment is a vital function of the
Regional Coordinator.
An ongoing duty of the
Regional Coordinator involves the development and support of practice
experience sites. Once a new preceptor has been recruited, the Regional
Coordinator can assist with the setup of the practice experience, as well as
the training of the volunteer faculty. This may include helping with the
design of a syllabus and goals that are consistent with the college
objectives. The Regional Coordinator is available to support the preceptors in
their work with students. For example, preceptors sometimes need help
evaluating students and assigning grades. Periodic on-site visits by the
Regional Coordinator improve interactions between the preceptor and the Office
of Experience Programs. Occasionally, preceptor turnover can create problems
with scheduled experiences. The Regional Coordinator is responsible for
replacing those experiences that may be lost due to preceptor relocation or
reassignment.
They are also responsible for
the development and maintenance of their own practice site within their
region. This practice should be developed to enable the remote faculty to
precept students, and it should also promote scholarly activities and academic
research. Regional Coordinators assign pharmacy students to advanced practice
sites within their areas and also maintain contact with students and their
preceptors throughout the practice experiences. Periodically, the Regional
Coordinator will arrange for all pharmacy students in a specific region to
meet to listen to a guest speaker, participate in a journal club, or make and
listen to case presentations. In addition, career-planning topics such as
applying for residencies, writing a curriculum vitae, and interviewing skills
are discussed in these small-group settings. Information is also provided
regarding student participation in meetings of local pharmacy organizations.
Because the advanced
experience program is critical in producing a confident and responsible
pharmacy professional, experience programs represent a significant portion of
the curriculum of the doctor of pharmacy degree.3 The use of
Regional Coordinators to help maintain advanced practice experience sites and
preceptors in areas far removed from the home campus is a valuable resource to
UGA COP.
REFERENCES
1. Accreditation Council for
Pharmacy Education. Standards and guidelines for accreditation of professional
degree programs in pharmacy. 8th ed. January 1995. Available at:
www.acpe-accredit.org/standards/standards3.asp. Accessed September 7, 2004.
2. Lin AY, Altiere RJ, Harris WT, et
al. Leadership: The nexus between challenge and opportunity: Reports of the
2002-03 academic affairs, professional affairs, and research and graduate
affairs committees. Am J Pharm Education. 2003;67(3):S05. Accessed
September 7, 2004.
3. Harralson AF. Financial,
personnel, and curricular characteristics of advanced practice experience
programs. Am J Pharm Education. 2003;67(1):17. Available at:
www.ajpe.org/aj6701/aj670117/aj670117.pdf. Accessed September 7, 2004.
Published May 16, 2006
