Experiential training for pharmacy students: time for a new approach.

The pharmacy profession in Canada finds itself in the midst of transformational change. The regulation and expanded scope of practice of pharmacy technicians that is under way across the country, combined with the advent of new drug distribution technologies in both the hospital and community practice settings, have created the opportunity for pharmacists to largely relinquish their traditional role in the drug distribution system. This change will permit pharmacists to take on new and expanded patient-centred roles and responsibilities. However, patient-centred care requires a different set of skills and training (e.g., clinical practice skills, critical thinking skills, decision-making skills under conditions of uncertainty, collab orative interpersonal practice skills) than those that were needed to be a good pharmacist in the past (e.g., attention to detail, accuracy, risk aversion). Pharmacy educational programs will have to produce confident graduates who are able and willing to assume responsibility and accountability for drug therapy management. Experiential training is viewed as an essential requirement for the development of these skills. As the profession moves forward with implementation of the Vision for Pharmacy contained within the Blueprint for Pharmacy, there has been considerable debate about the type of experiential training programs that will best prepare pharmacy students for their future role. There has also been debate about whether the desired quality and quantity of such training can be delivered using the experiential training models currently in place across the country. This paper provides background and context regarding the changes that are driving the current debate, as well as the challenges that hospitals face in delivering quality experiential programs with existing training models. Alternatives that have been proposed or already implemented are presented and discussed. Finally, a set of principles is proposed for future experiential training models in the hospital setting. BACKGROUND