Development and evaluation of an elective course designed to prepare pharmacy students for advanced pharmacy practice experiences

Colleges of pharmacy have used a number of strategies to assess student readiness and facilitate the transition into Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE). However, previous documented strategies have revealed important limitations. In this article, we describe the Introduction to Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences course that helps students transition to APPE, a course that could easily be replicated at other colleges of pharmacy. This course has provided third professional year pharmacy students with a strong foundation of practical and useful knowledge to help better prepare them for the rotational year.