Evaluating the Types of Pharmacy Student Interventions Made During an Interprofessional 6-Week Adult Internal Medicine Rotation

Abstract

Introduction: The new standards for pharmacy education require that pharmacy students are involved in direct and interprofessional team-based care in multiple practice settings, which include “real-time” interactions with physician prescribers and medical students. Methods: From April 2014 to December 2015, fourth-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students at University Medical Center of El Paso, Texas were assigned to an interprofessional team that was comprised of physician prescribers, medical students, and a pharmacist faculty. They recorded their interventions that were analyzed for type, number, physician acceptance, clinical importance, and time requirements for intervention recommendation. Interventions were divided into 5 main types and further divided into specific categories. Results: Twelve PharmD students contributed 531 interventions, resulting in an average of 44 interventions per student with a physician acceptance rate of 87%. The most common types of interventions performed by PharmD students were under the categories of Therapy Needed (29.8%), Too Low Dose/Frequency (21.1%), Too High Dose/Frequency (8.3%), Therapeutic Level Monitoring (6.8%), and IV to PO Conversion (4.9%). A majority of interventions were of moderate clinical importance (56.1%) and took approximately 15 minutes to complete (92.5%). Conclusion: PharmD students under the supervision of clinical faculty on an interprofessional internal medicine team are valuable collaborators and contributors in decreasing the number of drug-related problems that can negatively impact patient care.