Hello everyone and welcome to my first ASHP Connect Blog Post!
I am honored to have been named as one recipient of ASHP's Student Leadership Award for 2013-2014. Congratulations to the other 11 recipients! As part of the award application, students submitted a plan to increase awareness and understanding of the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) among student colleagues. My essay is provided below; please feel free to comment or ask questions!
As a future pharmacist, I believe it is imperative to recognize current challenges in our profession and potential solutions to these issues. As a student leader, I have the potential to convey the thoughts and ideas of small, focused discussion groups to large student bodies as well as suggest activities to include in the professional curriculum. As the pharmacy practice model changes, it is crucial to be aware of the future direction of our profession and the likely influence on practice models. Not only does the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) change the typical administrative and logistical design of the pharmacy staff; it most prominently modifies the approach pharmacists will utilize in providing patient care, reducing medication errors, and improving medication-use expenditures and safety. Therefore, student education and awareness of PPMI will ease the transition to new practice models as well as foster creativity and innovation in its future design.
As a student leader focused on institutional pharmacy practice, I have the potential to raise awareness of PPMI among my organization’s members. For example, I would arrange for speakers and presenters at club meetings who focus on development and execution of PPMI in their institutions. Presenters would be available to facilitate discussion and questions regarding PPMI, its current influence on pharmacy practice, as well as their views of its future direction. Additionally, I could relay articles and news from the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) to my members via email and postings on my organization’s social media profiles. Finally, I would identify leaders of PPMI at my College of Pharmacy who would potentially serve as a liaison between students, faculty, and ASHP ensuring current information exchange and potential updating of the professional curriculum coursework to reflect future changes.
Awareness and understanding of PPMI should begin during the first year of professional education. For example, at Purdue University students receive a broad educational experience. Courses in medicinal chemistry, therapeutics, and pharmacy administration are required and provide a balanced curriculum. The pharmacy administration courses in the first year of professional school would provide an excellent environment to introduce PPMI, its objectives, and basic design elements. While the second year of the pharmacy administration coursework focuses on jurisprudence and laws governing pharmacy practice, the third year emphasizes development of innovative clinical services. Education of PPMI during this year would consist of didactic lectures as well as presentations from pharmacists currently re-designing the pharmacy practice model at local institutions. Continuing education of PPMI during this year would provide students with a solid understanding of PPMI concepts and objectives just prior to beginning clerkship rotations.
To further engage students and develop a complete understanding of PPMI, it would be most beneficial for students to create and execute their ideal pharmacy practice model as a group project during the third year of the professional curriculum. Following didactics and presentations on PPMI, its concepts may continue to be confusing or foreign to some students, especially those with little to no institutional pharmacy practice experience. By creating and organizing the ideal pharmacy practice model, students would gain a hands-on perspective. For example, students would be divided into groups of four to five members with the goal of creating a manuscript and visual presentation outlining the hierarchy, pharmacy staff, and practice goals for the pharmacy service as well as each individual members of its staff. Students would then determine a department budget, number of staff required to enact their practice model, as well as means and criteria to measure their success in accomplishing PPMI objectives. To provide a further challenge, students could complete the project as two phases; initially with no budget or hiring limitations and then with set financial and location restrictions. At the conclusion of the project, students could critique their practice model and amend concerns and shortfalls before submitting a final manuscript and presentation.
PPMI will change current pharmacy practice models thus increasing the role of a pharmacist in providing patient care, reducing medication costs, and preventing errors. Through speaker presentations, updated coursework, and completion of hands-on projects, students will develop a greater understanding of the importance of PPMI. As a student leader, I have the opportunity to serve as a voice in the development of PPMI awareness and education at my College of Pharmacy. I look forward to the development of pharmacy practice, increasing PPMI knowledge among my peers, as well as improving the quality of patient care in my future practice.
#Leadership #PharmacyStudents #PPMI