Online Doctor of Pharmacy Program for Pharmacy Practitioners: Development and evaluation of six pilot courses

The goals of this project were to: (i) develop an online PharmD program that prepares practitioners with background and skills to provide pharmaceutical care; and (i) conduct a preliminary evaluation of the impact of the program on the knowledge of participants, frequency of pharmaceutical care activities, and their perceived preparedness to provide pharmaceutical care. Curriculum for six credits in the-38 credit program was developed. Content areas focused on clinical skills and pharmacotherapy of cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, rheumatoid and respiratory patients. Instructional strategies consisted of self-study with Power Point presentations and readings, synchronous chat sessions using FirstClass, Intranet Client, and case-based assignments. The program was evaluated comparing scores of baseline knowledge and self-reported frequency of pharmaceutical care activities and preparedness to scores upon completion of developed curricular content. The participants also completed course evaluations. By the end of spring 1999, 28 students had enrolled in the program. Based on an evaluation of baseline and follow-up surveys, there was significant improvement in test scores and perceived preparedness to provide specialty pharmaceutical care services.