Physician Assistant Student Exposure to the Long-Term Care Setting by Working with a Consultant Pharmacist

Abstract

This paper describes a unique, but replicable, opportunity for physician assistant (PA) students to obtain exposure to the long-term care (LTC) setting by shadowing a consultant pharmacist. Two students at a time spent four hours with the pharmacist, reviewing and co-presenting two to three patient charts. Students completed a questionnaire asking them to describe what they learned. The diseases and medication-related issues identified by students were consistent with those expected in LTC. Students indicated an increased appreciation of having strong knowledge of medication prescribing/monitoring, avoiding polypharmacy, disease prevention, the importance of multidisciplinary care, and preventing medication errors. Conclusion: This report describes a replicable educational opportunity providing PA students with exposure to the LTC setting through use of a consultant pharmacist.