A Call to Action to Remove ACPE Limits on Non-Patient Care Elective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences

Abstract

The terms "practice-ready" and "direct patient care" are evolving as the pharmacy profession transforms into a wideranging field of highly trained individuals. In a crowded job market, students are seeking opportunities to utilize their training beyond traditional patient care roles. As pharmacy colleges/schools update curricula to reflect current practice and drive this transformation, they are faced with the challenge to accommodate student interest in these growing nontraditional areas with the limit of two non-patient care elective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs). This commentary aims to bring attention to the curricular confinement by accreditation standards on elective APPEs. The time is right as ACPE is gathering input for standards revision. This is a call to action to remove the restriction of non-patient care elective APPEs, support non-traditional career interests, and enhance opportunities for advocacy, leadership development, and innovation without sacrificing developing proficient direct patient care skills for all future pharmacy professionals.

Comparison of Clinical Interventions between Student Pharmacists on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences in Indianapolis, Indiana versus Eldoret, Kenya

“…As Steeb and colleagues’ study highlighted, students participating in international APPEs, particularly in LMICs, build knowledge, skills, and attitudes that meet ACPE accreditation standards [ 17 , 22 ]. The quantity and variety of interventions completed by the MTRH-Kenya cohort highlight the transferrable skills that student pharmacists participating in this APPE could obtain during these elective APPEs [ 18 , 23 , 24 ]. Based on the intervention types, it is evident that students learned patient care skills, including professional communication, interprofessional collaboration, and clinical decision-making, which are all necessary according to ACPE accreditation standards [ 19 , 25 ].…”