Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2010 Dec 15;74(10):180.
doi: 10.5688/aj7410180.

A capstone advanced pharmacy practice experience in research

Cynthia A Wuller  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

A capstone advanced pharmacy practice experience in research

Cynthia A Wuller. Am J Pharm Educ. .

Abstract

Objective: To implement a required capstone experience in research for pharmacy students, assess course outcomes, and solicit mentors' and students' opinions regarding the structure and efficacy of the course.

Design: Fourth-year pharmacy students chose a research project, selected a mentor, and completed a 5-week capstone advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE), during which they wrote a research paper and presented their research at a poster session.

Assessment: Eighty students completed the capstone experience in 2008-2009 and 56 faculty and non-faculty pharmacists served as mentors. Based on their responses on a course evaluation, the students' experience with their mentor and course instructor were positive. Thirty-one mentors completed a survey on which they indicated their overall support of the capstone project, but wanted their role to be better defined and felt the students needed to have additional training in statistics, survey question design, and the IRB process before completing the APPE.

Conclusion: The capstone APPE was perceived by students and mentors as a positive learning experience that allowed the student to take information from the curriculum and apply it to a real-world situation. Additional research is needed to determine whether pharmacy students will use the research skills acquired in their future careers.

Keywords: advanced pharmacy practice experience; curriculum; research.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Wagenaar TC. The capstone course. Teach Sociol. 1993;21(3):209–214.
    1. Rowles CJ, Koch DC, Hundley SP, Hamilton SJ. Toward a model for capstone experiences: mountaintops, magnets and mandates. Assess Update. 2004;16(1):1–15.
    1. Steele JL. The laden cart: the senior capstone course. Teach Sociol. 1993;21(3):242–245.
    1. Dickinson J. The senior seminar at Rider College. Teach Sociol. 1993;21(3):215–218.
    1. Howe S. Where are we now? Statistics on capstone courses nationwide. Advances in Engineering Educ. 2010;2(1):1–27.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources