The Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) is a construct upon which to build our practice into how we view our profession and want to be seen by patients, other healthcare professionals, and reimbursement agencies. If one were to imagine the current scope of pharmacy practice as a solid building, then PPMI would be the scaffolding that supports people who wish to change not only the building’s exterior, but also the quality of the materials within. The importance of PPMI to the pharmacy student population is that we are the architects, the construction workers, and the building’s future inhabitants. It is crucial that students be aware of this initiative and feel empowered to make and be the changes outlined in the initiative.
PPMI is a model for the future, and importance of students understanding its purpose is obvious: current students will become future practitioners who will be the ones at the fore to implement, continue, and grow the endeavors that are being set forth. There are numerous instances of students who interact with other students and practitioners in multidisciplinary settings or have direct patient interaction through experiential education rotations. These relationships help to establish a stage where pharmacy is an integral part of the health-system team, a source of drug expertise, and provider of direct patient care. However, these experiences may not occur until one’s last professional year of school. Other modes to increase awareness and understanding of PPMI need to be implemented.
To begin, as a student leader who wishes to share information about PPMI with other students, a reasonable first step would be to provide education about the initiative. A feasible method of doing such could be as basic as having a guest speaker give a presentation or lecture about PPMI. To help introduce my school’s students to PPMI, my SSHP invited a student who was on a Pharmacy Student Forum Advisory Group to give a presentation about PPMI. She shared with students an overview of the rationale and objectives of PPMI, as well as how her Advisory Group team was planning to promote the initiative among students on the national level. This event not only generated awareness about PPMI, but the fact that it was delivered by a student emphasized that there are large scale, national projects that can be created and implemented by students.
Another interesting way to increase student awareness of PPMI is to increase practitioner awareness. Students who are under the employ of a health-system pharmacy or engaged in an experiential rotation at one, for example, could present to the pharmacy about PPMI. Achievement of the objectives of the initiative depend on increased reliance on technicians to take on more duties to allow pharmacists to be able to provide more direct patient care. This could be an important feature in a presentation that a student could design to present to pharmacy staff. It is my hope that such an event that showcased student interest in PPMI would inspire those currently practicing to realize the goals of the model in their institution, while increasing the student’s knowledge of the initiative and its importance to pharmacy practice.
The inter-pharmacy college collaborative work that I have been privileged to be part of has shown me that there is a power in numbers. SSHPs not already involved with regional or state affiliates should continue efforts to reach out to them. A student-driven presentation about how PPMI relates to students and practitioners alike delivered to an audience of current health-system pharmacists could have a big impact. Similar to the above suggestion of a student presenting to a pharmacy staff, the hope would be to inspire those who are currently in a position to make palpable changes.
Finally, I think the student generation’s grasp of technology can make for a formidable force. Less traditional methods of sharing information are becoming increasingly valid. Whatever medium is the choice, whether it be a conventional presentation or a video competition or a social media frenzy, messages born of genuine passion and hope will ring through. As the practice seeks to change, so should the vehicle by which that change is announced. After all, is it not constant evolution that has led to the formation of the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative?