What Should Constitute an Acceptable Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience?

The practical training of pharmacists experienced a dramatic change in the 1970s. Prior to that time, experiential training for pharmacists was under the supervision of state boards of pharmacy. In many states, licensed pharmacists had to sign off on documentation stating that pharmacists-in-training had completed a set number of hours of experiential training as interns. Too often these interns spent time engaged in activity that did not prepare them to be practice ready (eg, working the candy, cosmetics, or tobacco counter). With the advent of clinical pharmacy, schools and colleges of pharmacy became increasingly in favor of the experiential education component being focused on areas that would prepare students for the practice of pharmacy. Hence, a shift took place in which schools of pharmacy took on the primary responsibility for experiential education (though some states still require internship hours outside of the experiential program)