Evaluation of a hybrid ambulatory care elective for first year pharmacy students

IntroductionA hybrid, distance education elective in ambulatory care for first year pharmacy students was created with the intention of encouraging students to enter into this area of specialty and/or increase their interest in post-graduate education. This manuscript describes the course structure, the goals/objectives of the course, and the results of a voluntary survey administered to the students at the end of the semester.MethodsAmbulatory care topics were discussed and taught with a variety of teaching techniques throughout the semester. The survey analyzed their evaluation of the usefulness of the course, their confidence level regarding the topics taught, the usefulness of each portion of the course, their interest in completing post-graduate training, as well as their interest in working in ambulatory care.ResultsGreater than 70% of the students rated the course as “very useful,” greater than 70% of students stated that they “agree” that their confidence level was increased, greater than 85% of students stated that they “agree” that all portions of the course were useful, and finally more than 50% of the class stated that they were interested in post-graduate training and/or working in the ambulatory care field.ConclusionACPE requires that pharmacy programs offer elective courses during the pharmacy curriculum. Offering this course to first professional year pharmacy students provides a foundation for those interested in an ambulatory care. We encourage other programs to adopt this type of elective.