Facilitating student pharmacist learning through student-led development of a service-learning opportunity

ObjectivesStudent members of the University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy chapter of Phi Delta Chi sought to establish a sustainable, extra-curricular service-learning opportunity for student pharmacists. They aimed to foster engagement in this environment through active learning and measure learning outcomes by capturing student pharmacists’ reflections on the experience.MethodsUnder the supervision of a nurse practitioner, student pharmacists performed medication reconciliation for the underserved patient population of BFM. After reconciling medications, student pharmacists observed the remainder of the patient encounter and then reflected upon their experiences.ResultsFrom September 2010 to November 2011, 36 student pharmacists (43% of the PDC members) had volunteered at Broadway Family Medicine (BFM). In total, student pharmacists volunteered at BFM for 38 total days, reconciling medications for 146 patients.ConclusionsEstablishing a partnership between a student pharmacy organization and a clinic serving underserved populations appears to enhance student education, according to student reflections from the experience. This effort may be replicated by other student pharmacists to enhance learning and community engagement.