At CUSP, PharmD students gain hands-on experiences by participating in Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) rotations off campus. These rotations are designed to balance future pharmacist’s learning opportunities with didactic and experiential learning.

Laying Foundations

IPPEs provide students with practical experience in community, independent, and hospital pharmacy settings during their first and second years at CUSP. Coupled with the applied courses in the curriculum, IPPEs prepare student pharmacists for APPEs in their final year. As Megan Shieh, PharmD alumna ‘24 puts it, “Hands-on work is an excellent way to immerse yourself in your position… (an) IPPE might be your only opportunity during pharmacy school to pursue a specific type of project in healthcare during your time as a pharmacy student”(Read more on Shieh’s experience here). 

P3 students spend their final year on-site at an APPE to engage in patient care under seasoned preceptors to be practice-ready by the end of the academic year and prepared to take their licensing exam. 

A Student’s Perspective: Jacqueline Nguyen Reflects on Hoag Rotation

Jacqueline Nguyen, a current P3 student, recently completed an APPE rotation at Orange County’s renowned Hoag Hospital. Jacqueline was exposed to multiple angles and processes of patient care at Hoag, including discharge and acute care, offering perspective in both inpatient and outpatient care. “By seeing cases play out in real-time, the APPE experience helps to refine what I was taught in lecture, including certain extremely niche topics,” Jacqueline explains. “It’s okay not to know things right away. You don’t have to be afraid to tell your preceptor you don’t know, but always look into it.”

Jacqueline cites Chapman faculty Dr. Jason Yamaki, a Hoag research affiliate, as an essential part of her experience, explaining that she was able to “clinically apply what was taught in lecture to patients and have discussions with faculty” about what she’d encountered that day in comparison to what they’d learned in lecture. As she puts it, Yamaki “is such a great teacher and can adapt his teaching style to each student during patient work-ups and discussion. He also knows anything and everything about infectious diseases under the sun, so I used this opportunity to ask any question I thought of!”

 

CUSP’s faculty commits to fostering rising healthcare professionals by investing in student mentorship opportunities, typically in IPPE and APPE rotations. As Jacqueline recalls, dedicated faculty like Yamaki provide exceptional environments to become highly skilled pharmacists in diverse practice areas. 

Interested in becoming a preceptor? View our Office of Experiential Education website to learn more about the benefits of supporting our students.