Improving situated learning in pharmacy internship

Abstract

Aim: The study objective is to evaluate whether a pharmacy internship linked to a practice research project produces student-learning outcomes that are more relevant to new and extended roles of community pharmacists than traditional apprenticeship learning.  Method: A study combining undergraduate pharmacy education, pharmacy practice development and practice research in a participatory action research design. Students contributed to the study during the internship by collecting data and presenting the results to the training pharmacy. A triangulation of methods assessed both internally and externally was used to evaluate student learning for project participants and non-participants alike. Conclusion: Pharmacy students are incorporated into a situated learning context during an internship. Most pharmacy students learn from the internship experience, but students who participated in the Pharmacy-University Study learned more than those who did not. This implies the creation of a more appropriate situation for learning for future pharmacy students.