Enhancing clinical services by using pharmacy students during advanced experiential rotations

The roles and responsibilities of pharmacists in providing both distributive and clinical services continue to expand. Traditionally pharmacists have been responsible for an array of activities including medication reviews to ensure safe and accurate prescribing, order entry, and patient education, to name a few. A shift toward a more “patient-centered practice model” has necessitated pharmacy departments to assume additional responsibilities such as formal and informal consultations, rounds with medical teams, committee involvement, and precepting residents and students.1 Assuming and fulfilling the responsibilities of a pharmacist are invested with ongoing challenges as pressures to reduce staffing due to budgetary constraints while increasing productivity continue to rise. With increased responsibilities and roles bestowed upon pharmacists, the prioritization of workload including key patient care-related activities is often necessary. The expansion of the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists is evident in the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) 2015 Initiative, which outlines goals and objectives to improve the practice of pharmacy in health systems.2 The mission of our pharmacy department is to adequately prepare to meet and exceed these goals. Currently we are obligated to do so with already limited resources. To overcome this barrier, additional practice models need to be evaluated to ensure that all clinical and service responsibilities are fulfilled. This article describes a student practice model that was developed by implementing a pharmacy student clinical service program at our institution.