2021 Volume 5 Article ID: 2020-017
The revised core curriculum for pharmaceutical education requires pharmacy students to gain experience during the pharmacy and hospital clinical clerkships in medication counseling of patients with a major disease. However, since some pharmacies do not treat all of these diseases, we created a new education method for pharmacy clerkships. This trial’s primary purpose was to provide opportunities for students in medication counseling with as many kinds of diseases as possible. The preceptor pharmacists received assistance from cooperating pharmacists of other pharmacies for educating the pharmacy students on specific diseases that could not be covered at the original training pharmacy. The cooperating pharmacists provided three days of practical education at three-week intervals throughout the eleven-week clerkship. Thirteen students participated in this program and gave medication counseling to patients with the diseases such as a psycho-neurologic disease, hypertension, or other diseases that could not be covered at the original training pharmacy. During the three days, the median number of patients treated by each student was five, with a range of two to 23 patients. The students also learned how to make a record of the patient’s medication history. This cooperative method among pharmacies was an effective measure in providing the required learning for the clinical clerkships.
