An objective competency level-based method to assess student performance in experiential training.

Pharmacy Practice Research Symposium Abstracts
2004 AFPC Conference | Educational and Teaching Research | Edu/Teach No. 13

  <p><strong>Objective:</strong> To implement a competency-based assessment system in a sequence of three introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) courses in a new entry-level Pharm.D. program. <br />
    <strong>Method:</strong> The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy implemented a sequence of three 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> year IPPE courses in its new entry-level Pharm.D. program. The primary component of each course is eight community pharmacy visits to conduct “OTC” counseling and health-promotion and disease prevention activities. Students are required to write statements that described their counseling activities, link each statement to an AACP Center for the Advancement of Pharmaceutical Education (CAPE) outcome-competency, and self-assess their level of competency. Each student, for selected CAPE competencies, must reach a pre-set number of competency statements graded as “exceeds” or “meets expectations” by the course directors to pass each course. Students with competency statements graded “below expectations” are asked to revise and re-submit their work or submit replacement statements. The work submitted by students in the first iterations of these courses was used by the course directors to establish required levels of performance for each competency in each course. <br />
    <strong>Results:</strong> For each course, multiple examples of competency statements graded “exceeds”, “meets” and “below expectations” were selected by the course directors to create rubrics that define levels of performance for the CAPE competencies Thinking, Communication, Valuing and Ethical Decision Making, Social Interaction, and Provide Pharmaceutical Care. <br />
    <strong>Conclusions:</strong> a competency-based assessment system has been successfully introduced for a series of three IPPE courses in a new entry-level Pharm.D. program.</p>

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