Zooming forward: An advanced pharmacy practice experience utilizing virtual case-based learning in response to COVID-19

Introduction: In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Oregon State University College of Pharmacy designed and implemented a virtual six-week case-based learning elective rotation for advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE). Objectives: The goal was to develop and refine students' knowledge, critical thinking skills, evaluation and assimilation of scientific evidence, and behavior to provide patient-focused disease management. Methods: This APPE experience was delivered via asynchronous independent work and synchronous video conferencing. A diverse team of pharmacy experts including faculty, preceptors, and administrators developed and implemented the APPE rotation. Seventy students were divided into three groups, with each group rotating every two weeks in each of the following sections: acute care, ambulatory care, and drug information/journal club. Formative and summative assessment activities were mapped to eight student learning outcomes (SLOs). Graded activities were used to assess the achievement of SLOs, with a target minimum average of 80% as an acceptable level for achieving outcomes. At the end of the rotation, students completed a retrospective pre- and post-survey to reflect their ability level for each course outcome and provide qualitative feedback regarding this APPE rotation. Results: Sixty-eight students completed the virtual APPE rotation. Two SLOs, one focused on the ability to evaluate and apply evidence-based medicine and the other on the ability to establish patient-specific goals, met the target at 80.42% and 81.14%, respectively. The average change in survey responses across all outcomes was positive with 12.35% increase. The largest increase from baseline was 15.22% in the students' ability to retrieve evidence-based medicine and a 17.72% increase in developing drug-related educational materials. Generally, qualitative feedback from students was positive. Conclusion: The combination of Zoom and a university-supported learning management system was a feasible and successful option to design and deliver experiential education in the context of COVID-19 limitations. Students identified the strengths of this rotation as its structured nature and learning from content experts.