APPE Information

Overview

Throughout the curriculum at the UM, School of Pharmacy students are exposed to may aspects of drug information. The goal of the drug information specialty APPE is to provide a more intensive focus in this area to enable the student to become more proficient at using various drug information resources. The training in this activity should provide the student with an appreciation for the philosophy and objectives of a drug information service and an in-depth orientation and experience in assimilating and disseminating drug information upon request. The main APPE site is located in the Drug Information Service at the UM School of Pharmacy (SB -219)

Goals

The goals of the drug information experience include the following:

• Acquainted the student with the major sources of drug information at the site including, but not limited to, references and texts, indexing and abstractin services, Medline, the Web and the primary literature.
• Provide the student with the necessary background to utilize drug information resources to their fullest.
• Provide the students with the necessary skills for answering drug information requests received from other health care providers.
• Give the pharmacy student the opportunity to utilize previously acquired knowledge, to sort out problems, and to make appropriate decisions about pharmacologic therapy as it applies to drug information requets.
• Provide the student with a systematic approach to address medication information needs by effectively searching, retrieving, and evaluating the literature and appropriately communicating a response and applying the information to thte patient care situation.
• Acquaint the student with the skills necessary for establishing and maintaining a formulary based on scientific evidence of efficacy, safety, cost, and patient factors.
• Publish a newsletter article to educate health care professionals on medication use.

Students participating in the Drug Information APPE will:

• Prepare drug information responses to questions received in the DIS
• Publish a drug information newsletter or a drug information question and response
• Participate in weekly journal clubs/case conferences
• Become proficient with various drug information resources

Pharmacy students may elect to complete a 4-week rotation at the Drug Information Service. Interested UM, UM External Pharm.D., and non-UM students should contact Gayle Cochran to inquire about setting up a rotation.