Students' and Pharmacists' Approaches to Virtual Experiential Patient Care Practicum's

Abstract

Background: Students enrolled in the University of British Columbia's (UBC) Pharmacy program have the opportunity to
get practical experience in a primary care practice setting at the University of British Columbia's (the Clinic), which is run
by pharmacists. In light of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, certain pharmacy
practice sites have made the irreversible decision to move some experiential education activities online. Teaching
methods that help pupils succeed in a digital setting are not well-documented at the present time. Our goal is to gather
insights from student pharmacists and practice instructors on what makes a virtual patient care practicum experience
work well in a university clinic.
Methods: In order to understand the viewpoints of practice educators and student pharmacists, the former of whom had
no prior experience with virtual practicums and the latter of whom had some, a qualitative research approach was used.
We used a semi-structured technique to conduct separate focus groups with participants, asking them questions
designed to elicit their thoughts and feelings about virtual practicums. With the participants' permission, we audio
recorded and transcribed the focus group meetings. The data was analyzed using a thematic analysis.
Findings: Each focus group included three participants: one practice educator for pharmacists and one student
pharmacist. Based on the data, six main themes emerged: (1) optimizing technology, (2) activities connected to patient
care, (3) the interaction between student and practice instructor, (4) the development of student skills, (5) student
support, and (6) preferences for in-person versus virtual practicum. Setting communication norms, organizing interesting
learning opportunities, and having a dependable internet connection are some of the techniques that have been
suggested to address the constraints of virtual practicums. Participants' insights on what makes a virtual patient care
practicum work were the basis for the study's conclusion. This study's findings may inform how other branches of
medicine handled virtual clinical rotations during and after the COVID-19 outbreak.