The pharmacy clinical experience: A physician-pharmacist trainee collaboration

Adverse drug reactions are a common and preventable cause of hospitalizations in older adults. Therefore, educating physicians and trainees on appropriate medication management is a priority. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education requires graduating medical students to be adequately prepared to collaborate with health professionals from other disciplines. This study aimed to improve medical student confidence and ability to document a patient's complete medication list and improve students' attitudes towards collaboration with pharmacists and pharmacy trainees. Second-year medical students rotated through pharmacist run clinics, working with pharmacists, pharmacy residents, and visiting pharmacy students during their Clinical Skills 2 course. During the session, students practiced documenting the complete medication list for at least one patient. Before and after this pharmacy clinical experience (PCE), they completed a survey asking about their confidence in documenting a complete medication list, the usefulness of the PCE, and their agreement with statements from the Student Perceptions of Physician-Pharmacist Interprofessional Clinical Education (SPICE) instrument regarding attitudes about physician-pharmacist collaboration. Participants also completed a 3-month follow-up survey. The PCE resulted in an increase in understanding of pharmacist and physician roles in an interdisciplinary care team and an increase in confidence in documenting a complete medication list. Students generally agreed that the PCE improved their skills related to the three medication management geriatrics competencies for graduating medical students. This curricular intervention is useful for incorporating interprofessional (IP) experience into the pre-clinical medical school curriculum, especially at institutions where other professional schools may not be represented. Additionally, this intervention addresses gaps in medical student education regarding medication management in order to prepare them for post-graduate training. Surveys and handouts used in the study can be found at the end of this report.