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Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE)

The purpose of APPE is to allow students to apply the knowledge, skills, and professional behaviors acquired through the didactic curriculum to real-world healthcare situations. Rather than focusing solely on abstract theories, APPE rotations emphasize an integrative learning approach that blends hands-on experience with interactions between students and preceptors across various healthcare settings, transforming theoretical knowledge into practical expertise.

 

During APPE rotations, students have a unique opportunity to develop essential skills such as professionalism, communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, and professional competence. The VA Loma Linda Pharmacy Service encourages preceptors to highlight the importance of connecting knowledge, critical thinking, and practical action. 

Ultimately, our goal is to empower students to design safe and effective pharmacotherapy plans, optimize patients’ outcomes, ensure the safe and accurate preparation and dispensing of medications, offer reliable healthcare information, and promote public health. 

The APPE rotations provide students with opportunities to apply their knowledge and develop the skills required of a practicing pharmacist.  The VA Loma Linda Pharmacy Service offers a variety of APPE rotations. Below are the rotations offered:

  • Ambulatory Care
  • Hospital/Institutional Pharmacy
  • Psychiatry Pharmacy (Elective)
  • Pain Management (Elective)
  • Geriatric/Extended Care (Elective) 

 

APPE Rotation Learning Objectives

The pharmacy intern will:

  1. Collect relevant information to understand a patient's medical/medication history, clinical status, and health/medication-related needs.
  2. Analyze information to determine the effects of medication therapy, identify medication-related needs, and prioritize health-related needs in the context of the patient's health goals.
  3. Establish patient-centered goals and create a care plan for a patient in collaboration with the patient, caregiver(s), and other health professionals that is evidence-based and cost-effective
  4. Implement a care plan in collaboration with the patient, caregivers, and other health professionals
  5. Follow up, monitor, and modify a previously developed care plan as appropriate.
  6. Apply evidence-based medicine practices to provide clinically relevant patient care
  7. Assess factors that influence health and wellness and develop strategies to address those factors.
  8. Ability to integrate within daily operations and workflow of the site.
  9. Apply continuous improvement techniques to improve safety and quality.
  10. Acts as a collaborative team member.
  11. Effectively Communicates Information verbally, non-verbally, and in written form when interacting with an individual, group, or organization
  12. Responsible for self-awareness and ongoing personal and professional development and demonstrates commitment to development of others.  
  13. Demonstrate actions congruent with qualities that foster accountability and trust
  14. Develops, integrates, and applies knowledge and skills appropriately to situations encountered in the practice setting.
  15. Critical thinking is an intellectually disciplined process of skillfully evaluating information and designing a creative solution that incorporates new ideas or methods, when appropriate.

 

APPE Rotation Coordinator
Kenneth Wong, Pharm.D.
11201 Benton St. #119
Loma Linda, CA 92357

Kenneth.Wong5@va.gov

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