Experiences in Teaching and LearningStudents' perceptions of a new transitions of care elective course in the pharmacy curriculum
Section snippets
Background and purpose
Transitions of care (TOC) is defined as the patient's experiences through different levels of care as their medical conditions change.1 TOC is a trending topic in healthcare and a growing field in clinical practice. As a result, TOC opportunities have expanded for healthcare professionals, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, social workers, and case managers. Successful care transitions require a team-based approach involving multi-disciplinary collaboration, communication, and
Educational activity and setting
Twenty-five third professional year student pharmacists participated in the TOC elective course offered in the 2019–2020 winter quarter. The university institutional review board approved this study.
Findings
Pharmacy students responded to the pre-course (n = 25; 100%) and post-course survey (n = 23; 92%). The survey response rates were high, especially given that this was a voluntary survey, provided by a non-faculty administrative staff member, and where no participation incentives were given (such as bonus points or raffle prizes). The survey results were subsequently analyzed and indicated statistically significant responses to eight of nine questions (Table 3).
The primary outcome assessed by
Discussion
There were several limitations to note for this educational study. This educational study had a small sample size based on students' voluntary enrollment into the elective course. The location of the study was performed at only one health professional institution and one health discipline. Management of patients during care transitions is complex and requires the successful collaboration of many healthcare professionals. Training of other health professional students would be extremely
Summary
The design and implementation of a TOC elective course provided pharmacy students with the opportunity to develop practical skills to care for patients in the TOC setting and engage with clinical pharmacists. Future studies may include core, didactic course implementation as part of a professional PharmD curriculum, other health professional curricula, and interprofessional education to prepare students for their role on the TOC multi-disciplinary team.
Disclosure(s)
None.
Declaration of Competing Interest
None.
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