As part of their APPE requirements, Doctor of Pharmacy students are required to complete a six-week rotation in an acute care setting through placement at various teaching and community hospitals. The purpose of this rotation is for students to design, initiate and monitor pharmacotherapeutic regimens for patients in an acute care setting. Subsequently students foster skills across the four core competencies in interprofessional collaborative practice (communication, responsibilities, teamwork, and ethics). In particular, this rotation helps Pharmacy students strengthen communication skills needed to provide effective care in a hospital setting, including with healthcare professionals, patients and the patient’s family. Over the six-week rotation, Pharmacy students are evaluated on four areas: communication, professionalism, problem solving/clinical judgment skills, and knowledge, including the ability to gather, synthesize and apply original research articles for sound evidenced-based recommendations.

Students have the opportunity to round on patients in a team composed of medical interns, residents, and attendings, as well as social workers, nurses and case managers. For instance, at Roger Williams Medical Center, each student is assigned to a medical team to provide individualized treatment recommendations and interventions for their patients based on patient data and the team’s plan. At the beginning of the rotation students are required to set personal goals and keep a reflection journal on their progress and experiences with the medical team. Each student is expected to complete at least 40 evidenced-based recommendations. Students provide care for complex patient cases and provide medication recommendations with consideration to patient specific parameters such as liver and kidney function. As a result, students must demonstrate an understanding of monitoring for response to treatment, and monitoring for adverse events.  During this time students also acquire skills related to patient advocacy, privacy, and health disparities.  For more information about APPE and URI’s Pharmacy click here.