Description of a novel co-curricular professional engagement program for student pharmacists

Introduction: Development of professionalism is essential for student pharmacists. This paper describes the development of a novel co-curricular professional engagement program for student pharmacists. Methods: At admission, all student pharmacists are enrolled in a faculty-developed professional engagement program. The program was designed to address various key elements of Standards 3 and 4 of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Accreditation Standards. The program requires student pharmacists to complete a variety of required and electives activities each professional year. Student progression and completion of these activities is monitored and evaluated by an assigned faculty member. Each year, the program is reviewed using various measures, including activity completion rate and student feedback. Results: Approximately 1000 student pharmacists, across four years and seven cohorts of students, have completed at least one portion of the program. All students in the aforementioned groups completed the program in its entirety. Example activities included professional seminars and professional organization involvement, leadership, and community service. Program activities were mapped to key elements of Standards 1 through 4 with an emphasis on Standards 3 and 4. Student feedback was used for continuous quality improvement, and programmatic revisions were made. Conclusions: The development and implementation of a co-curricular professional engagement program offered the opportunity for student pharmacists to actively participate in a variety of experiences supporting accreditation standards. Other colleges of pharmacy may benefit from the adoption of a similar program to support student pharmacist professional development.