EPPE F.A.Q.

What is the EPPE?

The Early Pharmacy Practice Experience is a four-week experiential education rotation for pharmacy students after completing their first professional year.

What are the goals of the EPPE?

Students have varied practice experiences when they begin pharmacy school so the EPPE is designed to give beginning pharmacy students an organized, official orientation to pharmacy practice.The students are allowed to participate in and observe various aspects of pharmacy practice, including patient care provision, dispensing activity, legal aspects of pharmacy practice, and financial and management concepts at the site.

Describe the workload associated with this course.

Students should expect to work 40 hours per week, just like a full-time job, while on this rotation.Students on their EPPE rotations will divide their time between patient care and dispensing activities, and working on assigned EPPE projects.Students will be spending time at their sites five days a week, and all time spent on the EPPE rotation must be documented in the student log.

What are the EPPE projects?

There are many projects assigned during the EPPE.At the end of the rotation, these projects are turned in to the course coordinator at the College of Pharmacy for grading.Preceptors will give guidance to you in completing several of the projects.

• Pharmacy Site Assessment form: This form gives the student a general picture of pharmacy practice at this site.Descriptions are given of the type of clientele served, volume of prescriptions filled, special services offered and distribution of workload at the site.
• Financial Management Assessment form: This form allows the student to gain understanding of many aspects of pharmacy operation, including stocking and ordering, employee hiring and training, and marketing considerations.
• Inventory of Information Resources: By completing this inventory, the student becomes familiar with information resources in the pharmacy site, as well as the local area.The student is asked to consider cost of maintenance as well as utility of resources available.
• Mock Kentucky Board of Pharmacy Inspection: Here the student gains insight into legal requirements of running a pharmacy.
• Local Health Care Provision Evaluation form: A global picture of health care in the area is provided to the student when they consider the amount and variety of health care practitioners from various disciplines that are available in the area, as well as any barriers to health care provision locally.
• Daily Activity Log: The student is asked to provide a brief description of how their time is spent each day of the rotation.This documentation is part of the student's grade as they complete 160 hours during the rotation.It also emphasizes the importance of documentation in the practice of pharmacy.
• Required Readings: The students are provided with a series of articles on such topics as pharmaceutical care provision, reimbursement issues, disease state management and the future of pharmacy practice.
• Journal: This is a 10-15 page document designed to allow the student to reflect on activities at their site, as well as concepts gained from the required readings.The students are asked to elaborate on such things as barriers to pharmaceutical care provision, patient confidentiality issues, differences in this practice site as compared to other places they have practiced, and the overall experience of this rotation.The journal may be read by the preceptor during the rotation, but should be turned in by the student as part of the EPPE notebook after the rotation.Preceptors and students should discuss early in the rotation whether or not the preceptor wishes to read the journal.
• Patient Assessment: The students should take this opportunity to practice performing patient assessments at their assigned site. One assessment should be turned in for documentation purposes, but all patient-specific identifiers should be removed from this form.
• Weekly activity list with preceptor signature: The EPPE coursework has been divided among the four weeks of the rotation.The specific activities have been assigned a specific time frame. For example, filling out the Pharmacy Site Assessment form should be done during Week 1, while writing in the journal should occur every week.The preceptor is asked to sign this form to monitor that projects are completed by the end of the rotation.This time frame is a guideline, and the preceptor may change the project schedule if he or she feels that an activity would better suit practice at their site if completed by the student at another time.

Describe the Patient Care Project proposal.

The students are asked to consider ways to improve patient care provision at their assigned sites. Once an area of potential improvement has been noted, the student will do a formal written presentation of this proposal, including feasibility at the site, financial assets needed, impact on pharmacy practice, plan for implementation and evaluation methods.Examples of possible projects are given to the students, including patient education centers, disease management methods, refill reminder services, referral service management and OTC counseling guides.The project proposal must be approved by the preceptor, and it should be worked on by the student throughout the rotation period.

How is a grade assigned to a student?

Students taking the EPPE course do not receive letter grades; the student takes this course on a pass/fail option. Overall, the student is evaluated and may receive up to 100 percent credit.Fifty percent comes from the preceptor, and 50 percent of the grade is determined by on-campus evaluation of the EPPE notebook of projects. A minimum of 70 percent is required to receive a passing grade.The preceptor grades the student in three areas:

• Performance at the rotation site: Did the student possess abilities to perform as an advanced pharmacy intern? A detailed evaluation sheet will be mailed to the site during the student's rotation period.
• Attitude:The preceptor is asked to assess the student's professional attitude and presentation during the rotation.
• Project proposal: The preceptor is asked to evaluate the patient care proposal project for feasibility at their site and thoroughness of preparation by the student.

The student must complete 160 hours of work, attend an EPPE orientation session on campus prior to going on rotation and attend the EPPE debriefing session on campus after completion of this rotation to receive a passing grade.

What is the "debriefing day"?

The students are assembled as a group on campus immediately after completion of the EPPE rotation. Faculty and practitioners spend the day with the students discussing concepts learned during the EPPE.The students gather in small groups to discuss different activities at the sites, patient care project proposals, barriers encountered to patient care provision, and any questions they had about pharmacy practice in general.