ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to evaluate preceptors' assessment of students' preparedness for advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPE) following a problem based learning (PBL) curriculum. A questionnaire instrument was administered anonymously in March 2004 and March 2005 to rate the adequacy of students' preparedness in the areas of knowledge acquisition, self-directed learning, and clinical reasoning. Preceptors reported optimal performance by students in researching reputable and pertinent primary literature (90%), incorporating primary literature into patient care decision making (73%), efficiently retrieving current medical information (94%), and evaluating drug regimen appropriateness based on the patient population (78%). Preceptors reported only average performance in identifying significant drug interactions (33%) and incorporation of knowledge from all academic disciplines (28%). Student performance in identification of drug assistance programs was reported to be less than optimal (52%). A majority of preceptors report students successfully perform in APPE after completion of PBL-based curricula in the third professional year. Areas in need of further evaluation have been identified and will be addressed through continuous curricular development.