Contributed by: Alex Tang, Lecturer, UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
As our health care system adapts to the changing needs of our diverse population, the role of pharmacists has expanded beyond the traditional practice of dispensing medications. Today, pharmacists are committed to providing patient care and advocating for the health of their communities. In the undergraduate PharmD curriculum at the University of British Columbia (UBC), pharmacy students have the opportunity to take part in community engaged learning (CEL) as a valuable educational component in their training. This hands-on learning approach combines practical experience with meaningful reflection, benefitting both students and communities. CEL is rooted in the belief that learning goals should be driven and determined by the community, enabling students to gain a deeper understanding of health disparities and access challenges faced by different communities. This type of learning is essential for students to become more socially accountable and reflexive practitioners. By collaborating with community partners, students can address real-world challenges faced by priority populations. In this blog post, we will share some key takeaways of the CEL practicum with the BC Hepatitis Network (BCHep).
In October 2022, two pharmacy students from UBC took part in a four-week practicum (PHRM 473 Non-Direct Patient Care) at BCHep. The students participated in various activities, including exploring the integration of hepatitis C screening and linkage to care in community pharmacy settings, conducting a literature search, and reflecting on their experiences through written reflections.
Involving community partners as co-educators
Community partners were involved in educating our students in two ways. Firstly, a key step in preparing for this practicum was centering the experiences of our community partners. By involving them as co-educators from the early stages of curriculum development, we ensured their valuable input in shaping the practicum goals, learning activities, and assessments. We also considered the workload and resource expectations of our community partners, ensuring that the activities were reasonable and aligned with their expectations. As a key principle of CEL, we strived to ensure that all aspects of the practicum resonated with the community’s perspective and that the student projects were community-driven. Secondly, students were precepted by the BCHep team, which diverged from the traditional model where pharmacists supervised students. The BCHep team provided daily supervision, guidance, and ongoing feedback to nurture our students.
Shifting from a transactional to transformative community-university relationship
Building relationships lies at the core of meaningful community-university partnerships. In the spirit of reciprocity, we sought to collaborate with our partners, share resources, and align our goals with theirs even before the practicum commenced. While this practicum was designed as a learning experience for students, they also contributed to addressing a priority area for BCHep and finding ways to uphold reciprocity. For instance, the students worked on a grant application together to increase funding for the organization, resulting in a successful application for the UBC Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund. This amount of $1,500 aims to foster reciprocal relationships with community partners and extend the collaboration beyond the confines of a short-term practicum. The awarded grant will be used to engage with pharmacists in point-of-care testing for hepatitis. To that end, continual evaluation of resource allocation, shared goals and feedback is essential for sustaining these relationships.
Designing critical reflection activities for students
As noted earlier, reflection is a key component of CEL. Early scholars of experiential learning including Dewey and Schön suggest that reflection should be an active process that involves more than the cognitive process but also the action that comes afterwards. To that end, we incorporated three key considerations in designing the critical reflection activity for our students: identifying learning outcomes; designing reflection activities to achieve these outcomes; and integrating assessment into the reflection process. While various reflection models exist in the literature, we employed the DEAL model (developed by Ash and Clayton) which has broad applicability to service learning and health professions education. Reflection is the cornerstone of professional development for pharmacists. Through reflection, students can benefit from learning about how they learn. These metacognitive skills are important for life-long, self-directed learning. Critical reflection promotes higher-order thinking, critical thinking skills, and generates new perspectives – all of which can benefit patient care.
Student Testimonial
As a testament of this experience, we share a quote from one of our past students:
“This practicum was a great experience that allowed me to gain knowledge from outside the typical pharmacy point of view. It showed me the importance of working with the communities that we serve. Daryl, Deb, and Kerri were a pleasure to collaborate with… One of the key takeaways for me was the importance of learning about patient experience from those that are affected by hepatitis. Hearing about Daryl’s lived experience and first-hand knowledge of living with hepatitis was eye-opening. All health professionals can learn from these unique perspectives. As life-long learners, health providers should look to communities themselves as one of our fundamental sources of knowledge.”
Building a Brighter Future
Our UBC pharmacy program aims to cultivate compassionate healthcare providers who can make a positive impact on the lives of equity-deserving groups. This continuous collaboration between UBC and BCHep gives us hope for the promising outcomes ahead.
Acknowledgement
The Office of Experiential Education, UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences would like to thank Deb Schmitz, Daryl Luster, and the BCHep team for hosting and precepting our pharmacy students, providing them with hands-on experience in the area of community engaged learning.
About Alex Tang
Alex Tang (he/him) is the lead for Non-Direct Patient Care (NDPC) in the Office of Experiential Education, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia. As a liaison between NDPC pharmacy practice stakeholders and the Faculty, Alex is responsible for sustaining and building capacity for the NDPC practicum opportunities for the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy program.
Prior to joining the Faculty in August 2018, Alex practiced in the outpatient setting and served as a practice educator for undergraduate student practicums. Alex currently serves as the Course Coordinator for several practical-experience based Pharmacy courses at UBC and is also completing his Master of Education (M.Ed.) through the University of Ottawa. His current academic endeavours include creating practicum opportunities for students in non-traditional pharmacy practice settings and developing a queer and trans inclusive pharmacy curriculum. Visit UBC’s website for Alex’s full bio and contact details.
A Note From the BC Hepatitis Network
BCHep extends our thanks and appreciation to Alex Tang, Jane Xia and their colleagues at UBC for providing Community Engaged Learning opportunities to students and partner organizations. We had an excellent experience from start-to-finish, and look forward to welcoming UBC students back for future practicum placements.
We encourage other organizations to consider pursuing this opportunity. Recruitment of practicum sites is done year-round, with a cutoff of February for students in the upcoming practicum cycle beginning in August. Connect with Alex to learn more!
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