Pharmacy Simulation is frequently incorporated into the education of students for the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) is the national agency responsible for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy and the approval of providers for continuing pharmacy education. The ACPE Accreditation Standards and Key Elements for the Professional Program in Pharmacy Leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree have established guidelines to guide professional education of the doctorally prepared pharmacy programs, which include simulation. This HealthySimulation.com article by Teresa Gore, PhD, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CHSE-A, FSSH, FAAN, will explore the resources available for pharmacy educators to use to build or strengthen their pharmacy simulation program.
Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standards – Simulation
The following ACPE Standards specifically mention simulation:
- Standard 11: Interprofessional Education (IPE) โ 11.2 Interprofessional team education, which states that some but not all of the IPE activities may be simulations.
- Standard 12: Pre-Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Curriculum โ 12.7 Simulation for Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) states that a maximum of 60 clock hours of the total 300 hours may be completed in simulated practice experiences. However, the simulation hours do not substitute for the 150 clock hours of required IPPE time in the community and practice settings.
- Standards 18: Faculty and Staff โ Quantitative Factors โ 18.1 Sufficient faculty members are required to effectively address programmatic needs, including teaching via didactic, simulation, and experiential learning.
- Standard 21: Physical Facilities and Educational Resources โ 21.2 Physical facilitiesโ attributes state that the physical facilities are adequate to meet the programโs needs, including access to educational simulation capabilities.
View the HealthySimulation.com Webinar Integrating Pharmacy Learners Into IPE Healthcare Simulation Events to learn more!
Free Pharmacy Simulation Resources
There are some free resources available for educators to use with pharmacy learners. Some of these resources are provided here.
International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP): The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is the global body representing over 5.5 million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. We work to meet the world’s healthcare needs. FIP is a non-governmental organisation that has been in official relations with the World Health Organization since 1948. During COVID-19, the FIP developed MyDispense: A Virtual Simulation to Teach Pharmacy Students Across the Globe. Here is a YouTube webinar on MyDispense:
FIP Education Transformation Toolkit: The education transformation digital toolkit is a one-stop collection of globally relevant resources from FIP for professional associations, schools, and educators to support addressing needs and priorities in education and professional development. In October 2021, FIP brought together members across the six WHO regions to co-create roadmaps to support the advancement of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences education. The roadmaps have provided a systematic, concerted and evidenced-based framework for FIP members to advance pharmaceutical education, and support collaboration between FIP members and key pharmaceutical stakeholders in co-creating strategies and solutions for their region, leading to the global call to action for advancing pharmaceutical education. This toolkit provides resources that will support education transformation aligned with this global call to action for advancing pharmaceutical education.
MedPro Patient Safety and Risk Solutions Simulation Training Sample Scenarios: MedPro Group is a Medical Insurance company. In 2017, they produced the Patient Safety & Risk Solutions: Simulation Training Sample Scenarios for anesthesia and surgical team, behavioral health de-escalation, emergency medicine pediatric patient, healthcare practice emergency, medical-surgical sepsis, senior care fall assessment, OB shoulder dystocia, and dental practice aggressive patient. These cases include a scenario background, learning objectives, target participants, expected outcomes, facilitator notes, equipment and supplies, patient & room scenario setup, handoff report, scenario phases with patient and SP responses, debriefing, and resources.
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View the HealthySimulation.com Webinar Pharmacy Simulation Behind the Curtain: Operations and Safety Considerations to learn more!
Other Pharmacy Simulation Scenario Resources for a Cost
Western States Simulation Alliance (formerly California Simulation Alliance): has a subscriber-only section for scenarios and tools. The scenarios that have been developed, validated and tested by CSA subject matter experts. QSEN and TeamSTEPPS competencies have been integrated in all scenarios where appropriate. Scenarios are to be used by subscribers only. If you are considering becoming a subscriber and would like to view a sample scenario, please contact CSA. Cases available include ambulatory care, critical care, implicit bias, LGBTQ, perioperative, leadership, peri-natal, emergency department, fundamentals in nursing, family nurse practitioner, medical-surgical, pediatrics, and interprofessional. In addition to these resources, white papers, IP release forms, scenario validation checklist CSA sim scenario template, CSA sim leadership scenario template, CSA sim storyboard sample, CSA abbrev template, and apprentice application. The California Simulation Alliance Simulation Scenario Template can be downloaded for free.
Pharmacy Simulator: Offers lifetime access for a one-time low-cost payment. Available for multiple countries and languages of professional practice. In addition, the pharmacy scenarios are created to address the various fields in which clinical pharmacists practice:
- Community Pharmacist: 122 scenarios
- Hospital Pharmacist: 46 scenarios
- Clinical Pharmacist: 2 scenarios
- Community Pharmacy Tech: 2 scenarios
- Hospital Pharmacy Tech: 0 scenarios
Denali RX: the home of pharmacology e-learning games to transform learning with gamification. For the past 15 years, the staff at Denali Rx has created a wide variety of games on the most important topics in pharmacology. Our mission is to create fun and effective games to help pharmacy technicians, nursing students, and medical professionals gain confidence in their knowledge of medications.
View the new HealthySimulation.com Community Pharmacology Simulation Group to discuss this topic with your Global Healthcare Simulation peers!
Use of AI in Pharmacy Simulation Scenario Development
With the improvements in and growth of AI resources, pharmacy simulation educators should embrace the incorporation of AI into pharmacy simulation scenario development. There are a number of Large Language Models (LLMs) or AI based chatbots. Some examples include: ChatGPT, LLama 2, Bard, Aleph Alpha, and Claude. These AI based chatbots have brought forward new tools that have created innovation across a number of different industries. Healthcare educators must be aware of proven and new AI resources to help build quality simulation scenarios.
Free Simulation Resources for Other Disciplines
Numerous resources from other disciplines are available and can be adapted for pharmacy learners. These resources can serve as the foundation for the backstory or patient history to help pharmacy educators build pharmacy scenarios more quickly.
The SimTech Nursing Simulation Scenarios: TheSimTech provides a collection of donated scenarios for learners to use or modify. Scenarios include abdominal trauma from a motorcycle crash, bradycardia, difficult airway, sepsis, and more. There are currently 18 simulation scenarios available.
USC Standard Patient: This project provides freeware Virtual Standardized Patient (VSP) community scenarios for medical learners, residents, continuing medical education and medical educators. VSPs are virtual human avatars that can be conversed with (through typing or speech), that talk back, tell a story, and are coupled with a feedback system that allows learners to improve their performance. VSPs can tell their stories and can answer the most common medical questions that would be asked in a clinic environment. For learners, this resource offers the Standard Patient Hospital. For the educators, the Standard Patient Studio, the healthcare educator can learn to create an interactive virtual standard patient in less than one day and have access to published cases.
University of Washington Simulation Team Training Toolkit: The University of Washingtonโs Center for Healthy Sciences Interprofessional Education Research and Practice offers two nursing simulation scenario resources. The first, โSimulation Scenario Building Templates & Tools,โ includes simulation scenario building templates and tools intended for educators involved in developing comprehensive and customized interprofessional simulations for health sciences students and trainees. These tools were developed by members of the UW Macy Grant Team with funding from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.
HealthySimulation.com has published articles on healthcare simulation resources for other disciplines. Do not miss out on these valuable resources.
