Report of the 2015-2016 Academic Affairs Standing Committee

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COMMITTEE CHARGE The Bylaws of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy state that the Academic Affairs Committee shall consider: the intellectual, social, and personal aspects of pharmaceutical education. It is expected to identify practices, procedures, and guidelines that will aid faculties in developing students to their maximum potential. The Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) panel generated the CAPE 2013 Educational Outcomes which are now included as Standards 1-4 in the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards. (1-2) The 2014-15 Professional Affairs Committee examined the concepts of readiness to practice and a patient-centered pharmacy practice model. In addition, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) released a set of professional (EPAs) to guide medical education. The 13 EPAs describe activities medical school graduates should be able to perform without direct supervision the first week of residency training. (3) Based on these factors, President Cynthia Boyle charged the 2015-16 AACP Academic Affairs Standing Committee with the following: Identify the EPAs for pharmacy graduates as they transition from completion of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences into practice and post-graduate opportunities such as residency training. BACKGROUND As pharmacists seek to become recognized providers under State and Federal law, it is increasingly important that pharmacy graduates possess both the knowledge and skills required to contribute as valued members of each patient's healthcare team. Knowledge and theory related to the pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacy practice have served as the cornerstone of pharmacy education for many years. While the factual knowledge and theory that are the foundation of pharmacy practice are important and will continue to differentiate pharmacists from other health professionals and the lay public, access to information is now readily available real-time using various online resources. To be valued contributors to the healthcare team, pharmacists must engage in a range of professional activities and tasks that are recognizable to stakeholders, including other health professionals, patients, and the lay public. Colleges and schools of pharmacy, which have traditionally measured student achievement using obj ectives to assess knowledge and progression toward competencies and outcomes, must now also validate that each graduate is able to perform the entrustable professional activities (EPAs) that represent what pharmacists do on a day-to-day basis as a part of the healthcare team. The CAPE 2013 Educational Outcomes and the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process delineate outcomes and processes that have established a clear direction for pharmacy education and the practice of pharmacy. (1,4) Colleges and schools have developed curricula that are based on these competencies. However, operationalizing and measuring competencies is difficult and has led to confusion. (5-7) In Standards 2016, ACPE made clear that all pharmacy graduates should be practice-ready and team ready. (2) However, individuals and professional organizations disagree on what constitutes a practice-and team-ready graduate. The AACP Academic Affairs Standing Committee believes that pharmacy students should be practice-and team-ready at the time of licensure. Unlike medicine, where graduate medical education (i.e., residency training) is required for practice, pharmacists may enter practice after earning the professional degree and passing the North American Pharmacists Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) and Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE). The national pass rate for both of these exams is high, and neither includes a demonstration of skills that the Committee believes validates a graduate's practice- and team-readiness. …