A summer diabetes camp as an interprofessional service-learning experience for early experiential pharmacy students

ObjectiveTo determine the impact of a week-long, volunteer, interprofessional service-learning experience at a pediatric diabetes summer camp on early experiential pharmacy students’ self-reported diabetes knowledge and skills, confidence in patient counseling and communication, and comfort with interdisciplinary teamwork.MethodsStudents applied for the experiential rotation in the spring of their first or second professional year. The application process included letters of intent and recommendation and a personal interview. The authors assessed the impact of service-learning activities on students’ perceptions of their diabetes knowledge and skills, confidence in patient counseling and communication, and comfort with interdisciplinary teamwork through the use of pre- and post-camp surveys and content analysis of students’ reflection journals.AssessmentEight pharmacy students participated in camp and completed the pre- and post-camp surveys and reflection journals. Students’ post-camp survey scores and investigator analysis of students’ reflection journals demonstrated that most students met the majority of investigators’ learning objectives.ConclusionsPre- and post-camp survey data and reflection journal content analysis provide subjective and objective data that support that the students met investigators’ learning objectives through participation in interprofessional service-learning. Early experiential students engaged in interprofessional service-learning improved their diabetes knowledge, confidence in patient counseling, and comfort with interdisciplinary teamwork. Condensed, off-site, summer service-learning experiences may help colleges of pharmacy with limited access to other on-campus health professions schools meet Interprofessional Education outcomes.