Health disparities activities during advanced pharmacy practice experiences: A pre-post analysis of student perceptions and knowledge

Introduction: The pharmacy profession is increasingly committed to addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and health disparities (HD). This shift necessitates pharmacy curricula to train learners to identify and address SDOH and HD to improve patient health outcomes. Objectives: To assess learners' knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and confidence in providing care to underserved populations experiencing HD during a five-week ambulatory care advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) through active learning cases and discussions in addition to direct patient care. 

Methods: This is a retrospective review of pre- and post-survey data completed by fourth-year pharmacy learners on ambulatory care APPE rotations with four clinical faculty members in rural and urban clinics. This was conducted at a single college of pharmacy between May 2019 and April 2023. 

Results: There were 54 paired responses. Learners' confidence in identifying patients with HD and willingness to help them, as well as their knowledge of resources, increased after the assigned learning activities. Learners acknowledged HD's impact on health care outcomes and, after completing rotation activities, maintained their interest in serving patients with limited access and resources. 

Conclusion: Learning activities related to HD alongside providing care to patients at risk for HDs on five-week ambulatory care APPEs significantly improved learners' confidence and abilities in identifying and addressing HD among patients. These results emphasize the effectiveness of targeted learning activities in improving pharmacy learners' confidence in serving diverse patient populations.