Student Identification of Medically Underserved Populations During a First-Year Community Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience

This evaluation determined the ability of first-year (P1) students to recognize medically underserved populations after the completion of a required community Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE). Students completed a 40-hour community IPPE and submitted post-experience reflections. Reflection prompts included patient populations they interacted with or observed and impactful patient interactions or discussions with their preceptors related to medically underserved populations. Content analysis was performed to analyze student reflections. All 192 P1 students completed post-rotation reflections; 72.9% (n=140) were able to accurately identify a medically underserved population. Low income (37.5%), rural (13%), individuals with limited English (10.4%), and individuals with disabilities (9.4%) were most frequently identified. Two additional themes emerged from the student reflections: 1) barriers to care, 2) the role of the pharmacist in supporting medically underserved patients. Students (n=95) listed at least one barrier to care (106 instances) with 5 sub-themes: low socioeconomic status, limited English proficiency, rurality, disability, and low health literacy. Students also (n=93) listed at least one pharmacist role (130 instances) with 4 sub-themes: increased access to healthcare, patient advocacy, improving knowledge of medication use, and administering vaccinations. Most P1 students on their community IPPE identified a medically underserved population, described barriers to care, and listed ways pharmacists can mitigate these barriers. By having this activity with authentic practice-based exposure early in the curriculum, it may allow students to perform abstract conceptualization and make connections from classroom to practice to better care for medically unserved populations in the future.