Planning a Pharmacy-Led Medical Mission Trip, Part 3: Development and Implementation of an Elective Medical Missions Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) Rotation

Abstract

This article, focusing on developing an elective advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) rotation for international and domestic medical missions, including provision of products, is the third in a 4-part series on pharmacist-led medical mission trips. Part 4, “An Exploratory Study of Student Experiences,” is an evaluation of data collected from both APPE and non-APPE student participants on Gregory School of Pharmacy mission trips during the summer of 2011. Specifically, it examines the issue of professionalism and the personal impact that mission trips may have on pharmacy students. With an increasing number of new pharmacy schools/colleges and expansion of existing ones, pharmacy schools/colleges are often in need of elective rotation experiences as part of the final year advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) program. Offering a medical missions elective APPE in either a domestic or international setting is a unique opportunity to expose pharmacy students to direct patient care. APPE students can be involved in triaging patients, compounding and dispensing medications, and providing patient education. As part of this APPE, pharmacy students are expected to complete projects such as formulary development, case presentations, book club discussions, journal reflections, manuscript preparations, and trip logistics planning. An elective APPE focused on medical missions facilitates the learning process and promotes the emergence of team leaders and leadership skills in general.