DESCRIPTION OF IPPE PROGRAM

The Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience Program is composed of 300 hours of practical experience for pharmacy students, including 120 hours in a community pharmacy and 120 hours in a hospital pharmacy.  The primary goal of the IPPE is to provide the student with experience in the drug distribution activities of the pharmacist.  Secondary goals include exposure to the patient care and administrative roles of the pharmacist.  The 120 hours of community pharmacy IPPE should include exposure to and experience in the dispensing process, patient counseling, and the management of the pharmacy.  The 120 hours of hospital pharmacy IPPE should include exposure to and experience with the drug distribution system, the IV admixture program, the management of the pharmacy, pharmaceutical care activities, and in patient care areas and other departments of the hospital.  The remaining 60 hours of IPPEs are distributed throughout the six semesters of the didactic curriculum to coordinate with coursework through a variety of activities, including health-related interviews, direct patient care activities, and a service learning project.

DESCRIPTION OF APPE PROGRAM

The Pharmacy Experiential Program is composed of a minimum of 1,680 hours, and a maximum of 1,920 hours, of advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) for fourth professional year students in the entry-level Pharm. D. program.  This ensures all students meet no less than the 1,440 APPE hours as required by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and provides additional hours for licensure anywhere in the United States.  All APPEs are six-week rotations.  Students must complete four required rotations in the following practice settings: ambulatory patient care, community pharmacy, hospital/health system pharmacy, and inpatient general medicine patient care for a total of 960 hours.  Additional hours are distributed over a minimum of three, and a maximum of four, six- week elective APPEs.  Two of the electives must be in patient care APPEs.  One APPE must be completed in a setting that serves a rural or medically underserved patient population. All APPEs are taken on a credit/no credit basis where the focus is on building competency and progression towards practice-readiness.  Elective experiences can include inpatient, hospital, community, or ambulatory care, and specific APPEs (drug information, specialty services, geriatric, administrative, research, education) or clinical specialty APPEs.  Clinical specialty APPEs are available in a variety of areas including nutrition, mental health, pediatrics/NICU, infectious disease, critical care, cardiology, oncology, pain management, and emergency department.

The goal of the advanced pharmacy practice experience is to provide the students with opportunities to interact with patients, physicians, pharmacists, nurses and other health care professionals. Interaction with these individuals will provide the students with opportunities to communicate drug information and apply their pharmaceutical knowledge to patient care situations.

Experiential Student Requirements

Download a Word document with a list of student requirements, including required immunizations.

Contact Us

Cherith Smith, Director of Experiential Education Program
Phone: 406-243-4226
Email: cherith.smith@mso.umt.edu

Peggy Griffin, Program Manager of Experiential Education Program
Phone: 406-243-4226
Email: peggy.griffin@mso.umt.edu

 updated 10/7/2021