Implementation of a longitudinal early immersion student pharmacist health system internship program

Abstract

Purpose: The initiation, implementation, and benefits of a longitudinal early immersion student pharmacist health system internship are described.

Educational activity: A two-year longitudinal internship experience was implemented to provide exposure into distributional operations, direct patient care activities, and health-system pharmacy administration. The intent of the program was to create an opportunity for student pharmacists to enhance the quality of their education with practical experience by immersing them early in their careers within the healthcare system. Early in their academic training the student interns were exposed to a broad range of services and programs while contributing longitudinally to the service line through quality improvement projects and distributional operations. The first year primarily focuses on distributional operations with direct patient care shadowing, while the second year targets intern involvement in hematology/oncology direct patient care activities. In this role, they are able to serve as pharmacist extenders.

Summary: Our comprehensive, longitudinal two-year health-system pharmacy internship program offers student pharmacists a unique early immersion experience that builds upon itself throughout their didactic training but is outside of the academic requirements. Students are exposed to distributional operations, direct patient care activities, and health system pharmacy administration prior to APPE rotations.

Keywords: Early immersion; Experiential training; Internship; Oncology; Pharmacy students.