LAUSR

Objective. To explore pharmacist alumni perspectives on what topics and how the business of healthcare should be incorporated into pharmacy school training.Methods. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was utilized. Focus groups were conducted to elicit pharmacist alumni perspectives about business of healthcare topics and strategies for student learning and curricular implementation. Purposive sampling was used to identify alumni participants who could provide substantive feedback aligned with the needs of this evaluation. Ten alumni attended one of three focus groups over a two-month period. Thematic coding was used to identify themes. Results from the focus groups were used to inform survey development distributed to School alumni. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results. Findings from the focus groups and survey indicated that communication strategies, healthcare operations, the healthcare payer system, managing teams, and career options within pharmacy were business topics most important for students to learn. Focus group participants recommended a variety of activities to help students learn and apply business topics and emphasized that simulations and real-world experiences were needed to help students learn these topics and assess their understanding. Instructors should be currently or recently employed in the business sector to provide credibility. Barriers to implementation occur at both the student and curricula level.Conclusion. The possession of business skills and knowledge play a critical role in helping the pharmacy profession advance within a dynamic health care environment. Recommendations were provided on key business content important for PharmD students to learn and strategies to implement within a pharmacy program.