Students’ Perceptions and Lessons Learned From Virtual APPE Rotations: A Multi-Institutional Perspective

Abstract

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption in pharmacy experiential learning as clinical practice sites restricted student access to onsite rotations. Therefore, colleges of pharmacy across the country likely included virtual advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) to fulfill experiential education requirements. The objective of this paper is to evaluate students’ perceptions of virtual APPEs during the 2020-2021 academic year. Methods: Experiential directors and faculty at 3 colleges of pharmacy in the south Florida region developed a survey to assess students’ perceptions of their virtual APPE rotations during the 2020-2021 academic year. Students who took at least one fully virtual APPE rotation were asked about their perceptions of these rotations. Results: A total of 349 students were invited to take the survey and 92 (26.3%) completed the survey. Of these, 77 students (83.7%) completed at least one virtual rotation. These students completed a total of 152 virtual rotations, with elective and ambulatory care rotations being the most frequent. Most students agreed that rotation objectives were clear, and preceptors offered resources needed to be successful during the rotation. Responses regarding engagement during virtual rotations, rotation expectations being met, and rotations expanding students’ knowledge were mixed. Conclusions: Virtual rotations may present unique experiential opportunities for students. Colleges of pharmacy and preceptors can benefit from additional guidance regarding how to incorporate virtual rotations into the experiential curriculum. Best practices for virtual rotations include high frequency of interactions with preceptors, clear objectives and responsibilities, and the use of a rotation calendar.

The Feasibility and Effectiveness of an Online Curriculum for Virtual Onboarding/Orientation of Graduate Medical Education Learners During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…18 Although comprehensive virtual education, including courses and conferences, has been implemented across GME training programs for residents and fellow education and training, there are no reports of using online learning for GME orientation. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] We, therefore, surveyed our learners to determine the usefulness of our proprietary online orientation curriculum and opportunities for improvement -our findings demonstrate that our online curriculum and CarmenCanvas LMS are useful tools for orientation.…”

“…Online education is becoming widespread in GME and provides educators and learners with a flexible approach to teaching and training during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] GME educators have leveraged various virtual educational technologies (e.g. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, CarmenCanvas LMS, etc.)…”

Rapid integration and student outcomes of virtual, case-based, patient scenarios in advanced pharmacy practice experiences

“…Additionally, several publications have reported their findings after the implementation of virtual learning within APPE educational opportunities (Sehgal et al, 2019;Schellhase & Miller, 2020;Johnson et al, 2021;Montepara et al, 2021;Maravent et al, 2022;Sakr et al, 2022). While several publications have evaluated the requirements for delivering and reporting student satisfaction within virtual experiences, none have assessed student competency associated with virtual learning and educational outcomes from students engaged in a virtual APPE.…”