APPE Information

Throughout the School of Pharmacy curriculum students are exposed to many aspects of drug information.  The goal of the drug information specialty APPE is to provide a more intensive focus in this area to enable the student to become more proficient at using various drug information resources.  The training in this activity should provide the student with an appreciation for the philosophy and objectives of a drug information service and an in-depth orientation and experience in assimilating and disseminating drug information upon request.  The main APPE site is located in the Drug Information Service at the UM School of Pharmacy (SB-219)

Goals

The goals of the Drug Information experience include the following:

  • Acquaint the student with the major sources of drug information at the site including, but not limited to, references and texts, indexing and abstracting services, Medline, the Web, and the primary literature.
  • Provide the student with the necessary background to utilize drug information resources to their fullest.
  • Provide the students with the necessary skills for answering drug information requests received from other health care providers.
  • Give the pharmacy student the opportunity to utilize previously acquired knowledge, to sort out problems, and to make appropriate decisions about pharmacologic therapy as it applies to drug information request.
  • Provide the student with a systematic approach to address medication information needs by effectively searching, retrieving, and evaluating the literature and appropriately communicating a response and applying the information to the patient care situation.
  • Acquaint the student with the skills necessary for establishing and maintaining a formulary based on scientific evidence of efficacy, safety, cost, and patient factors.

Students participating in the drug information APPE will:

  • Prepare drug information responses to questions received in the DIS
  • Participate in weekly journal clubs/case conferences
  • Become proficient with various drug information resources

Pharmacy students may elect to complete a 6-week rotation at the Drug Information Service. Interested UM and non-UM students should contact Cherith Smith (cherith.smith@mso.umt.edu) to inquire about setting up a rotation.

Page last updated: 9/16/2020

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