Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience in Ambulatory Care

The Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience in Ambulatory Care is a four-week rotation at Community Health Center, Inc.  that is designed for Doctor of Pharmacy students to acquire the necessary clinical pharmacy skills to develop optimal pharmacotherapeutic regimens for patients with various chronic disease states.

During this rotation, the student will conduct patient care visits with the preceptor in the pharmacist-led clinic and prior to patients’ primary care visits. Visits include medication reconciliation, chronic disease state management, patient education, and patient self-care. Students are expected to critically evaluate the drug regimen and make appropriate pharmacological and non-pharmacological recommendations.

Goals for this rotation include: 1) Build upon didactic education through application in therapeutic management of patients with a variety of chronic diseases in an ambulatory care setting; 2) Develop greater understanding of pharmacist’s role in providing multidisciplinary patient care and achieve level of comfort in interacting with other health care providers as a member of a multidisciplinary team; 3) Develop skills to critically evaluate and apply medical literature and evidence-based medicine in medically complex patients; 4) Practice and enhance written communication skills; 5) Encourage greater awareness of cultural issues potentially affecting healthcare delivery and drug therapy decisions; 6) Encourage regular self-assessment by the student of his/her own skills in professionalism, communication, problem-solving, and decision making; and 7) Incorporation of individual student goals.

Program objectives include: 1) Review patient charts, extracting the necessary information to prepare for patient interviews;  2) Interview patients to obtain appropriate medical history and accurate medication list (drug, dose, frequency, and assess adherence); 3) Provide patient-specific, evidence-based pharmacotherapy recommendations to primary care providers (both verbal and written); 4) Recommend appropriate laboratory (and other) monitoring parameters for safety and efficacy of medication regimen and for general disease/health monitoring -- including appropriate follow-up intervals; 5) Identify, intervene on, and prevent real, as well as potential, drug-related problems; 6) Communicate recommendations effectively (verbal and written) with members of multidisciplinary team, patients, and caregivers; 7) Appropriately document patient care activities; 8) Educate patients regarding drug therapy and management of their chronic conditions; 9) Provide accurate and evidence-based (verbal and written) drug information to health care providers upon request; and 10) Work confidently and independently.