Pharmacy Practice Experiences
Pharmacy Practice Experiences are provided throughout the professional 4-year curriculum to enhance development of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values of our students, in tandem with didactic education.
Curriculum
Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs) represent the first experiential learning opportunities for Butler University PharmD students. The IPPE are incorporated into the early phases of the professional curriculum and are designed to expose students to the common contemporary pharmacy practice models and to facilitate the development of knowledge application and clinical reasoning skills in preparation for the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE). Butler PharmD students are required to successfully complete two 160-hour IPPE rotations prior to commencing APPE rotations.
Community IPPE
The Community IPPE is a 160 hour on-site rotation conducted in a community or retail pharmacy practice setting. The Community IPPE is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of community pharmacy practice and engages students in learning opportunities to enhance technical, clinical, and professional knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes. Community IPPE rotations introduce students to interprofessional practice involving shared patient care decision-making, professional ethics and expected behaviors, and direct patient care activities.
The Community IPPE takes place following the completion of the first professional (P1) year. Students are assigned a Community IPPE rotation block by the Experiential Education Office. All Community IPPE rotations take place during summer rotation blocks one through four which take place May through August.
Institutional IPPE
The Institutional IPPE is a 160 hour on-site rotation conducted in a hospital or institutional pharmacy practice setting. The Institutional IPPE is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of inpatient pharmacy practice and engages students in learning opportunities to enhance technical, clinical, and professional knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes. Institutional IPPE rotations introduce students to interprofessional practice involving shared patient care decision-making, professional ethics and expected behaviors, and direct patient care activities.
The Institutional IPPE takes place following the successful completion of the second professional (P2) year. Students are assigned an Institutional IPPE rotation block by the Experiential Education Office.
In addition to the traditional 4-week summer rotation blocks one through four, longitudinal IPPE rotation blocks are available for the Institutional IPPE. Longitudinal Institutional IPPE rotations are conducted over five to six months during the summer-to-fall or fall-to-spring rotation blocks. Longitudinal rotation schedules involve a small number of weekday rotation experiences but primarily consist of weekend experiences.
Schedules
Summer 2023
- Block 1: May 8 – June 2, 2023
- Block 2: June 5 – June 30, 2023
- Block 3: July 3 – July 28, 2023
- Block 4: July 31 – Aug 25, 2023
Summer 2024
- Block 1: May 6 – May 31, 2024
- Block 2: June 3 – June 28, 2024
- Block 3: July 1 – July 26, 2024
- Block 4: July 29 – Aug 23, 2024
Grading
IPPE will be graded on a pass or fail basis. The assessment scale is displayed in the table below. The student must “meet expectations” on all learning objectives before advancement to Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE). Students who do not “meet” learning objectives will be required to develop a plan to meet any of the unmet learning objectives with the assistance of a preceptor, faculty, and/or the Experiential Education Office. This may require additional classroom or site-based activities.
IPPE Assessment
| Needs Improvement | The student performs at a level below where they should be at this point in their pharmacy education (1 year of didactic curriculum for community IPPE and 2 years for institutional IPPE). The student does not display professional attributes or attitudes consistent with a readiness to enter general practice. |
| Meets Expectations | The student performs at a level consistent with expectations or at least is displaying developing
habits, skills, abilities, and/ or knowledge in areas that are improving and/ or requiring further development. |
| Not Applicable | Student not assessed because competency was not applicable at site. |
Curriculum
The purpose of the Advanced Practice Experiences (APPE) is to allow students to demonstrate acquired knowledge, skills and attitudes in a professional setting. Students are required to complete and pass all the practice experiences in order to qualify for graduation.
Rotation Requirements
General Requirements
Ten 4-week rotations (160 hours/rotations) are required. The ten rotations consist of the following:
- 1 General Medicine
- 1 Acute Care Inpatient
- 1 Hospital/Health System
- 1 Ambulatory Care
- 2 Community Practice
- 2 Patient Care elective (in-patient or out-patient)
- 2 Elective rotations (either patient care or non-patient care)
Medical Spanish Concentration
Same requirements as above. One patient care elective will be at an underserved site that is Spanish-speaking (i.e. Alivio clinic, Shalom, Timmy Foundation Trip)
Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Concentration and Patient Care Research Concentration
- 3 Pharmaceutical Sciences Research or Patient Care Research
- 1 General Medicine
- 1 Acute Care Inpatient
- 1 Hospital/Health System
- 1 Ambulatory Care
- 2 Community Practice
- 1 Elective rotations (For Pharmaceutical Research Concentration, must be patient care)
PharmD/MBA
- 1 General Medicine Rotation
- 2 Acute Care Inpatient
- 2 Community Pharmacy Rotation
- 1 Ambulatory Care Rotation
- 2 Administrative/Management Rotations (can be in hospital, community, managed care, or industry)
- 2 Patient Care Elective Rotations
Currently Offered Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences
- RX 650—Academic Experience
- RX 651—Administration, Law, and Management
- RX 652—Advanced Ambulatory Care*
- RX 655—Compounding**
- RX 656—Alternative and Complementary Medicine*
- RX 657—Ambulatory Care*
- RX 658—Cardiology*
- RX 660—Clinical Research
- RX 661—Community Practice*
- RX 662—Critical Care*
- RX 664—Drug Information
- RX 665—Emergency Medicine and Trauma*
- RX 666—General Medicine*
- RX 667—Geriatrics*
- RX 670—Home Healthcare*
- RX 671—Industrial Pharmacy
- RX 672—Infectious Disease*
- RX 674—Long Term Care**
- RX 675—Managed Care/Health Policy**
- RX 677—Neurology*
- RX 678—Nutrition Support*
- RX 679—Oncology*
- RX 680—Pharmaceutical Sciences Research
- RX 681—Neonatology*
- RX 682—Pediatrics*
- RX 686—Pharmacy Systems and Technology
- RX 687—Poison Control and Toxicology**
- RX 688—Pulmonary*
- RX 690—Psychiatry and Neuropsychology*
- RX 691—Radiopharmaceuticals**
- RX 692—Underserved Clinic Experience*
- RX 693—State Board/Associations of Pharmacy
- RX 694—Surgery*
- RX 695—Transplantatin*
- RX 696—Women’s Health*
- RX 699—Special Topics/ Elective in Pharmacy Practice**
*denotes direct patient care rotation
**denotes either direct patient care or non-patient care rotation, depending on assigned site
Schedule
2022-2023 Academic Year
- Block 1: May 9 – June 3, 2022
- Block 2: June 6 – July 1, 2022
- Block 3: July 4 – July 29, 2022
- Block 4: Aug 1 – Aug 26, 2022
- Block 5: Aug 29 – Sept 23, 2022
- Block 6: Sept 26 – Oct 21, 2022
- Block 7: Oct 24 – Nov 18, 2022
- Block 8: Nov 28 – Dec 23, 2022
- Block 9: Jan 2 – Jan 27, 2023
- Block 10: Jan 30 – Feb 24, 2023
- Block 11: Feb 27 – March 24, 2023
- Block 12: March 27 – April 21, 2023
2023-2024 Academic Year
- Block 1: May 8 – June 2, 2023
- Block 2: June 5 – June 30, 2023
- Block 3: July 3 – July 28, 2023
- Block 4: July 31 – Aug 25, 2023
- Block 5: Aug 28 – Sept 22, 2023
- Block 6: Sept 25 – Oct 20, 2023
- Block 7: Oct 23 – Nov 17, 2023
- Block 8: Nov 20 – Dec 15, 2023
- Block 9: Jan 1 – Jan 26, 2024
- Block 10: Jan 29 – Feb 23, 2024
- Block 11: Feb 26 – March 22, 2024
- Block 12: March 25 – April 19, 2024
Student Evaluation Scales
Professionalism and Work Ethics
- Students performance on items in this section will be evaluated with the following grading scale: (C) Consistently, (I) Inconsistently, (N) Never,
- Comments are required for any scores of “inconsistently” or “never”.
Entrustable Professional Activities
- Students will be evaluated on items in this section using the grading scale below. Comments are required for any scores of “below expectations” or “fail”.
| Exceeds Expectations | Ready for supervision at a distance. I trust the learner to completely and accurately… |
| Meets Expectations | Ready for reactive supervision. I trust the learner, with limited correction, to… |
| Below Expectations | Ready for direct, proactive supervision. Learner requires direct supervision and frequent correction, to… |
| Fail | I do not trust the learner to… |
Overall Assessment
Pass
- Performs at a level consistent with expectations or at least is displaying developing habits, skills, abilities, and/or knowledge areas that are improving.
- Demonstrates consistent professionalism and communicates effectively with preceptor and other health care professionals.
Fail
- Breaches patient confidentiality or violates policies of the site.
- Did not meet requirements and expectations outlined by the preceptor.
- Displays skills, abilities, and/or knowledge areas that require significant improvement and are a concern for patient care.
- Professional behavior is inappropriate and/or unethical (e.g. exceeds absences allowed, inappropriate language or communication).
Networking Events
We believe that networking is essential to student success and development. Networking can enhance rotation experiences through relationship building and deepened connections within pharmacy practice. These events also provide students with tools to navigate their specialized interests and post-collegiate career.
Preceptor Connect
Each year we hold a connect event for P3 students to converse with a variety of rotation sites and preceptors prior to selecting APPEs. Preceptors provide syllabi and course work discussions to prepare students for rotation expectations and focus. This event is enjoyed by both students and preceptors alike to facilitate relationships and drive motivation for student next steps.
