Section 7: Community of practice assignment

Contents

The community of practice approach to PharmD patient care rotations is centred on the concept that communities of practice are groups of people who share an area of interest, in this case patient care.

Individuals learn from each other and push the boundaries of their profession. This model allows for students to build strong relationships within a community and work interprofessionally towards shared goals.

Community of practice assignment guidelines

The following is a suggested approach for developing and completing this assignment.

  • Discuss the assignment with your preceptor, identify a gap in knowledge or practice to be addressed by this assignment.
  • Discuss the community of practice assignment with other members of the community of practice, determine the needs of these members in terms of the identified gap in practice or knowledge.
  • Work on the assignment.
  • Consult with your preceptor and/or other members of the community of practice about the developing assignment.
  • Finish the assignment.
  • Evaluation by the intended audience, assessment discussion with preceptor, assessment completed by the preceptor. 

community of practice assignment photo
The emphasis is on an assignment that will fill a gap in knowledge or practice within the community of practice. This could involve sharing new information with other members of the community of practice (e.g., a continuing professional education session) or providing information/a service to patients (e.g., developing and delivering a diabetes clinic).

Below are some specific examples of projects for this assignment. The final decision about the topic and structure of your assignment should be derived from consultation with the preceptor and/or your Regional Clinical Coordinator.

  1. Continuing professional education presentation to local pharmacists: the local pharmacist association may have regional meetings in which a drug review or disease state topic is actively discussed.
  2. Continuing professional education presentation or staff training: patient case review. Similar concept as above, including written materials (education booklets, etc.).
  3. Hospital or institutional settings may allow for a grand rounds format where a patient case/workup is discussed or a new drug is reviewed (it may be a new drug to the hospital formulary, a new indication, or a refresher based on discrepancies during a chart audit).
  4. Running a community clinic for patients (a diabetes update, asthma/allergic rhinitis refresher) or presentation to a patient care association, including written materials (pamphlets, education booklets, etc.).
  5. A presentation to other health care professionals — e.g., to nurses, dieticians within a region.
  6. Drug overview to local physicians or pharmacists may also be considered but may need to ensure that any of conflict of interest is minimized.
  7. Complete a formulary submission to the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee.

Section 6: Student responsibilities during patient care rotation  |  Section 8: Relevant Waterloo policies