A CLINICAL-EXPERIENCE FOR PHARMACY STUDENTS IN A SKILLED NURSING FACILITY

An analysis of demographic trends and health care resources in the United States leads to the conclusion that an increasing number of pharmacy graduates will be called upon to provide pharmaceutical care to the elderly residents of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in conjunction with the services of other health care professionals. Pharmacy students should have the opportunity to learn how to function as part of a multidisciplinary team under faculty supervision. Since 1986, various forms of multidisciplinary student teams (MST) have been a part of the Multidisciplinary Teaching and Training Project of the Academic Geriatric Resource Program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). MSTs have been involved in caring for patients at home, during acute hospitalization and in transition from the acute hospital to home. This paper describes the most recent use of the same approach to teach students the process of caring for residents in a skilled nursing facility (SNF).