Syllabus Template for Preceptors: This template document is intended to assist you in making a rotation syllabus
to enhance communication with students. Replace the highlighted text with the information that is specific to your
rotation. Modify or delete other suggested material, delete this header text, and you have a syllabus.
Practice Site Name
PhPr 803e Adult Acute Care Pharmacy Practice APPE Rotation Syllabus
UA College of Pharmacy
Preceptor(s)
Name(s)
Contact Information
Indicate preferred communication method
Pre-Rotation Requirements for Student
Include information student must provide (i.e. intern license) prior to starting rotation.
Student Schedule
 State the hours the student is expected to be on site. If applicable, indicate that the hours may not
be firm, and describe situations in which a student may need to stay after hours in order to
complete tasks.
 State events or meetings inside or outside those hours that a student should attend.
 When possible, provide typical daily schedule indicating when different activities or breaks may take
place. Include time to meet with the student to discuss the student’s performance and make
recommendations for improvement.
 Consider making a calendar of dates/time to discuss specific topics, have journal club meetings, or
have other conferences. Determining in advance what these will be allows student to be prepared.
Dress Code
 Name tag
 White Coat – required/optional
 Professional dress as defined by rotation site
Required/Recommended Preparation
 List therapeutic topics for which students should review their didactic course materials.
 List other materials (i.e. articles, practice guidelines) that students should review, indicating which
are required vs. recommended.
Assignments/Projects
 Include daily tasks such as attending rounds, care conferences, meetings, reviewing patient charts,
troubleshooting/resolving medication problems, counseling patients, presenting patients to
preceptor, etc.
 Include longer term projects such as drug information assignments, quality improvement tasks, and
presentations.
 List due dates for projects and presentations. For bigger projects, include timelines/intermediary
deadlines (i.e. rough draft due date).
Syllabus Template for Preceptors: This template document is intended to assist you in making a rotation syllabus
to enhance communication with students. Replace the highlighted text with the information that is specific to your
rotation. Modify or delete other suggested material, delete this header text, and you have a syllabus.
Expectations
 The student will maintain courteous, professional conduct at the rotation site.
 The student will be on time every day, and will call immediately regarding unexpected tardiness or
absence.
 The student will discuss needs for professional leave with the preceptor on the first day or the
rotation or as soon as possible.
 The student will refrain from making personal calls or text messaging when engaged in patient care
or other pharmacist intern activities.
 The student will be prepared for topic discussions and case presentations with the preceptor.
 The student will strive to be an independent learner. As much as possible, the student will attempt
to find answers to questions independently, and then discuss the information found and potential
answers with the preceptor in order to determine together the best course of action for the
situation.
 The student will comply with HIPAA regulations and all confidentiality procedures of the practice
site.
Adult Acute Care Rotation Goals/Objectives
The following are guidelines regarding the activities in which students should gain experience or at least
exposure during the Adult Acute Care Rotation. These may be modified to accommodate the student’s
previous experience and goals as well as the preceptor's expertise and unique characteristics of a
practice site.
1. Clinical Pharmacist General Skills
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Defines responsibilities of a clinical pharmacy consultant.
Describes strategies for getting clinical pharmacy recommendations implemented.
Describes strategies for dealing with patients or health care providers unhappy with clinical
pharmacy recommendations.
Explains strategies for prioritizing clinical pharmacy duties and deciding which patients should
receive clinical pharmacy services first when time/staffing is limited such that all patients can’t be
seen by a pharmacist.
Describes working structure of the practice site and pharmacy department, including functions of
various personnel and their relationship to the pharmacist
Explains and demonstrated aspects of professionalism pertinent to clinical pharmacists.
Demonstrates knowledge of billing procedures applicable to pharmacy services
2. Health Care Planning and Medication Therapy Management
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Collects, organizes, and evaluates patient information from various sources including the patient
chart, laboratory reports, medication administration records, communications with patient/other
health care providers.
Evaluates existing medication therapy including indications of current medications; medication
reconciliation on patient admission or transfer; appropriate dosing with respect to age, renal/liver
function, alcohol use, and concurrent disease states; appropriate route of administration with
Syllabus Template for Preceptors: This template document is intended to assist you in making a rotation syllabus
to enhance communication with students. Replace the highlighted text with the information that is specific to your
rotation. Modify or delete other suggested material, delete this header text, and you have a syllabus.

respect to GI functional status and other patient specific characteristics; drug-drug interactions;
applicable compliance issues; and monitoring parameters.
Applies disease state knowledge to evaluate therapeutic options for given diagnoses. When
recommending therapy, considers individual patient contraindications to medications such as
allergies, concurrent disease states, and potential drug interactions; recommends appropriate
dosing with respect to age renal/liver function, alcohol use, and concurrent disease states; and
makes appropriate recommendations for monitoring therapy for adverse effects as well as desired
outcomes
Considers social/economic issues that may affect therapy such as patient’s cultural influences,
attitude towards care, and personal resources; medication cost; formulary status of medications
desired by patient/physician.
Identifies appropriate interventions based on above factors described in items a-d
3.
Patient Care Activities
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Reviews/processes medication orders appropriately, if applicable to rotation site.
Performs medication reconciliation activities for newly admitted/transferred patients
Participates in patient care rounds/conferences, analyzing each case presented, answering drug
information inquiries in timely manner using appropriate references and research, identifying
pertinent questions/issues that are not asked by the other members of the team, and effectively
communicating with other members of the health care team.
When appropriate, provides patient education regarding disease state including usual course of
disease progression with and without treatment; usual drug and non-drug therapies; and general
precautions and recommended lifestyle modifications.
When appropriate, provides patient education regarding medication therapy including indication;
dosing/instructions for use; potential side effects and precautions; and potential solutions to
compliance problems.
Performs monitoring activities to assess efficacy and potential toxicity of drug therapies while
patient is admitted, reporting status to health care team and patient when appropriate.
Appropriately explains monitoring goals to patient as well as other health care professionals
Demonstrates communication skills needed for interacting with patients health care team
including clear articulation; appropriate terminology; use of open ended questions; prioritization
of discussion points; active listening; caring attitude; provision of complete and accurate
information. Students should also become familiar with resources available at practice site for
communication with non-English speaking patients.
Documents patient care activities according to rotation site procedures
4.
Disease State/Therapeutic Knowledge
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Demonstrates knowledge of conditions commonly encountered in adult acute care settings,
such as diabetes, hypertension, acute coronary syndromes, stroke, asthma/COPD, clotting
disorders, acute organ failure, acute/serious infections, trauma. The list should reflect
conditions most pertinent to the preceptor’s practice. For these conditions, students should
be able to describe basic epidemiology (prevalence/incidence); basic pathophysiology and
natural course; usual therapies; situations in which usual therapy is not appropriate for an
Syllabus Template for Preceptors: This template document is intended to assist you in making a rotation syllabus
to enhance communication with students. Replace the highlighted text with the information that is specific to your
rotation. Modify or delete other suggested material, delete this header text, and you have a syllabus.
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individual patient; goals of therapy; monitoring parameters; and strategies to prevent
complications or acute relapse of the disease.
Demonstrates basic skills in therapeutic drug monitoring including knowledge of drugs
commonly monitored using serum concentrations and their usual therapeutic ranges;
accurate interpretation of drug concentrations considering timing of sampling with respect to
drug administration and other patient specific factors; and recommends appropriate
adjustments to therapy based on drug concentrations, using applicable calculations.
Demonstrates basic skills in anticoagulation monitoring including knowledge of indications
for prophylactic and therapeutic anticoagulation in hospitalized patients; monitoring
parameters for heparin, warfarin, and other anticoagulants; and knowledge of anticoagulant
intensity and duration desired for different anticoagulant indications.
Explains monitoring of insulin and oral hypoglycemic agents for efficacy and toxicity,
identifying particular concerns for hospitalized patients.
Explains indications for IV hydration and considerations in selecting a particular fluid and
rate of administration.
Explains essential considerations in assessing a patient’s acid-base balance
Explains methods for estimation of renal function and drug dosing implications for commonly
used agents.
Explains considerations for appropriate use of antibiotics in hospitalized patients including
the process for selecting empiric antibiotic use in a non-neutropenic febrile patient;
pathogens commonly associated with different types of infections; typical spectrum of
activity of commonly used antibiotics; interpretation of gram stain and culture data;
adjustments to antibiotic therapy that may be based on culture data; relative costs and
potential formulary restrictions of antibiotics used in an institution; duration of antibiotic
therapy for different indications; monitoring parameters; aminoglycoside monitoring and
dose adjustments.
Demonstrates understanding of basic concepts of nutrition support in hospitalized patients
including identification of appropriate candidates for enteral and parenteral nutrition, factors
that determine initial TPN/enteral formula for a patient; how/why the initial formula may
change during therapy; monitoring required for TPN patients; potential adverse effects of
TPN; and factors that determine when/how a TPN should be discontinued.
Demonstrates knowledge of basic concepts of acute pain management including when and
how to initiate, monitor, adjust, and discontinue analgesic therapy; assessment of pain;
indications for use of opioids, NSAIDs, and other agents used for pain; adverse events
associated with opioid and non-opioid analgesics; methods for converting IV analgesics to
PO and changing from one opioid compound to another.