Objective. The entry-to-practice PharmD program is designed to meet the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada (AFPC) Educational Outcomes (EOs). We set out to evaluate how assessment strategies in… Click to show full abstract
Objective. The entry-to-practice PharmD program is designed to meet the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada (AFPC) Educational Outcomes (EOs). We set out to evaluate how assessment strategies in a 'capstone' course align with AFPC EOs, their respective key and enabling competencies, and whether there are a sufficient number of assessments for students to demonstrate achievement of competencies prior to embarking on advanced pharmacy practice experiences. Methods. Each assessment's objectives, content and methods were mapped to key and enabling competencies of each role. The number of enabling competencies mapped represented the extent to which the associated key competency and broader role was assessed. De-identified student performance data were analyzed to identify achievement of competencies despite failed assessments. Results. Of the seven role descriptions, Care Provider, Communicator, and Collaborator were the most comprehensively assessed. Leader-Manager and Health Advocate roles were assessed to a limited extent. The Scholar role was not covered to a great depth across assessments. The Professional role was not represented in most assessments except for the final exam. Students with failed assessments generally had ample opportunity to demonstrate competencies through other assessments. Conclusion. Mapping assessments to AFPC EOs is an essential step to demonstrate direct evidence of achievement of the intended learning outcomes. Our map revealed that there was sufficient overlap in the assessment of most AFPC EOs with a few exceptions. It is important to create multiple opportunities within a course for students to demonstrate achievement of competencies to ensure practice readiness.
               
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