Selected Related Resources
Amerine LB, Valgus JM, Moore JD, Arnall JR, Savage SW. Implementation of a longitudinal early immersion student pharmacist health system internship program. Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2017 May;9(3):421-426. doi: 10.1016/j.cptl.2017.01.011. Epub 2017 Apr 12. PubMed PMID: 29233280
The initiation, implementation, and benefits of a 2-year longitudinal student pharmacist health system internship program is described. The intent was to immerse students early on into different practice sites. The first year focuses more on distributional operations, while the second involves more direct patient care activities. This is meant to complement their didactic learning, and occurs before they enter their APPE rotations.
Clark JS. Developing the future of pharmacy through health-system pharmacy internship programs. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2007 May 1;64(9):952-4. PubMed PMID: 17468150.
An internship program in Baltimore, Maryland, is described. The program was designed to expose pharmacy students to various practice settings and help them realize the career opportunities available in health-system pharmacy.
Noble C, Coombes I, Nissen L, Shaw PN, Clavarino A. Making the transition from pharmacy student to pharmacist: Australian interns' perceptions of professional identity formation. Int J Pharm Pract. 2015 Aug;23(4):292-304. doi: 10.1111/ijpp.12155. Epub 2014 Nov 2. PubMed PMID: 25363500.
This provides an interesting account of the challenges faced during the transition from pharmacy student to pharmacist. These interviews could lead to new and improved ideas to assist pharmacist student interns better identify their roles through internship experiences and more frequently be exposed to patient-centered practices earlier.
Pattin AJ, Kelling SE, Szyskowski J, Izor ML, Findley S. The Redesign of a Community Pharmacy Internship Program. J Pharm Pract. 2016 Jun;29(3):224-7. doi: 10.1177/0897190014566305. Epub 2015 Jan 21. PubMed PMID: 25609659
This was a community-based summer internship program where students from Michigan were recruited to work in a supermarket chain pharmacy for 10 weeks. A total of 19 interns participated and were involved with both the medication dispensing process and employee biometrics screening.
Payne GR, Tonnies F, Page T, Lee S, Stowers R, Geyer E, Estes DA. Regional cooperative summer internship program for pharmacy students. Am J Hosp Pharm. 1990 Aug;47(8):1791-3. PubMed PMID: 2389787
A regional summer internship program, the Mid-Missouri Summer Intern Program, recruited students for 7 hospitals with 1 student at each hospital. Students were able to rotate at the other participating hospital pharmacy departments. The hospital pharmacy directors agreed this position was beneficial in introducing students to institutional pharmacy practice.
Pitkä, Katja, et al. Integrating Internships with Professional Study in Pharmacy Education in Finland. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 2014 Nov;78(9):173. PMID:26056411
Study exploring the integration of pharmacy internships with professional coursework in Finland during the second and third pharmacy school years. This study describes the integrated internship using the pharmacy curriculum at the University of Helsinki. The EU directive on the recognition of professional pharmacy education includes that training should include a 6-month internship in a pharmacy, which was a main driver for the design of this integrated internship model.
Schneider CR, Everett AW, Geelhoed E, Padgett C, Ripley S, Murray K, Kendall PA, Clifford RM. Intern pharmacists as change agents to improve the practice of nonprescription medication supply: provision of salbutamol to patients with asthma. Ann Pharmacother. 2010 Jul-Aug;44(7-8):1319-26. doi: 10.1345/aph.1P142. Epub 2010 Jun 22. PubMed PMID: 20571101
Intern pharmacists delivered an education activity to pharmacy staff and a health promotion campaign to consumers about the provision of nonprescription albuterol. There was a doubling in the rate of medical referrals, which showed improvement in professional practice and that pharmacist interns can act to create change in pharmacy practice.
Stupans I. Qualitative interviews of pharmacy interns: determining curricular preparedness for work life. Pharm Pract (Granada). 2012 Jan;10(1):52-6. Epub 2012 Mar 31. PubMed PMID: 24155817; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3798162
The transition period from student pharmacist to pharmacist is assessed through analysis of interviews with pharmacy interns, and suggestions or feedback they had for improving their preparedness for the work life after pharmacy school.
Walpola RL, Fois RA, McLachlan AJ, Chen TF. Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention to Improve the Patient Safety Attitudes of Intern Pharmacists. Am J Pharm Educ. 2017 Feb 25;81(1):5. doi: 10.5688/ajpe8115. PubMed PMID: 28289295; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5339591
The effectiveness of a face-to-face education interventions with intern pharmacists to improve their patient safety attitudes is discussed. This unique initiative demonstrates a best practice for pharmacy internships and maintaining safe and effective patient care through the utilization of pharmacy interns.
Student Pharmacist Internship Programs: Questions and Answers
- Summer Internship in the Inpatient and/or Outpatient Pharmacy at a Large Academic Medical Institution
- Summer Internship Program at a Large Academic Health System