Three-year review of pharmacy students’ interventions and activities in an outpatient teaching family medicine center

ObjectiveAdditional justification of the value of pharmacy students in outpatient settings is needed, as interventions have primarily been documented in the acute care setting. This study describes the clinical interventions and activities of fourth-year pharmacy students working under the supervision of one pharmacy practice faculty member in an outpatient teaching family medicine setting over a three-year period.MethodsStudents at this site see patients for individual appointments with the pharmacist, see patients with resident physicians, and perform medication reconciliation activities. All clinical interventions and activities documented by pharmacy students in a web-based system under the supervision of one pharmacy faculty member from 2011–2013 were analyzed.ResultsIn the three-year study period, 5439 interventions and 1645 activities were documented at this practice site by 39 pharmacy students. The average number of interventions per student was 139.5 and the average number of activities was 42.2. The most commonly documented interventions were patient medication histories, patient counseling, and drug therapy adjustments/discontinuations/initiations. The total estimated potential cost savings/avoidance was $602,022, which equates to $15,436 per pharmacy student.ConclusionPharmacy students performed a wide range of clinical interventions and activities in an outpatient family medicine center. Pharmacy students can have a significant impact on patient care in this setting and may contribute to significant cost avoidance. These data may be useful to schools of pharmacy, as they pursue the development of additional outpatient training sites.