APPE Specific Policies

Address

Students, please keep your UW Madison address up-to-date via the ‘Update Contact Information’ on the Student Clerkship website while enrolled in rotations. This will help facilitate School of Pharmacy personnel to be able to contact you if needed while at your rotation sites. Thank you for your assistance.

Assignments

All assignments must be uploaded to the School of Pharmacy course web pages by 11:59PM the last day of the block. Assignments not uploaded will not be graded.

APPE Attendance Policy

Students are expected to be present at their assigned APPE site a minimum of 40 hours per week, five days per week. These 40 hours do include time attending APPE Seminars. These 40 hours do not include travel time from home to the site, lunch, or break time. Students should expect to be at their site a minimum of 9 hours per day. Specific rotation hours vary depending on the site. Any outside/personal activities should be scheduled at the end of the day, typically after 5:00pm. The school uses 40 hours per week when reporting APPE hours to the Pharmacy Examining Board.

Hour Log
To assure students receive credit for hours completed during the rotation, students shall complete and submit the hour log by the last day of the rotation. Of note, experiential hours are established at the direction of your preceptor. Students shall enter their name, the date for each day of the block, number of hours completed remotely or onsite (as applicable), and activities worked on for each date. See hour log template for documentation.

The following policy will govern course absences:

All absences. Any absence, planned* or unplanned** (except for professional days – see below) must be made up. The student must make up the time and activities missed due to any absence, and a make-up plan must be arranged with the clinical instructor. It is at the discretion of the clinical instructor to apply prior excess hours spent at the site as credit for missed hours due to absence. In addition, if the student will miss a seminar session due to a planned or unplanned absence, or absence due to illness, the student will follow the directions listed under APPE seminar attendance.
Planned absences. In the event of a planned* absence, the student must notify the clinical instructor/APPE site as soon as a planned absence is scheduled or anticipated to request permission to be away from the rotation site. Whether or not to grant permission for a planned absence is at the discretion of the clinical instructor. Time away from the practice site except for professional days, illness, medical appointments, or student emergencies is unacceptable. If a student requests off more than two days for planned absences in any one block, the clinical instructor will contact the Assistant Dean (Mara Kieser) at Mara.kieser@wisc.edu. The school will review the attendance record of the student to evaluate APPE progression. Any questions regarding attendance should be directed to the Director of Experiential Education.
Unplanned absences. In the event of an unplanned** absence, the student must contact the clinical instructor/APPE site at least one hour before the start time of the APPE day. If a student has more than three unplanned absences in any one block, the clinical instructor will contact the Assistant Dean (Mara Kieser) at Mara.kieser@wisc.edu. The school will review the attendance record of the student to evaluate APPE progression. Any questions regarding attendance should be directed to the Director of Experiential Education.
Absences due to illness. If a student is ill, the student must contact the clinical instructor/APPE site at least one hour before the start time of the APPE day, notifying the instructor/site that they are ill. If a student has any more than three unplanned** absences in any one block, the clinical instructor will contact Mara Kieser at Mara.kieser@wisc.edu. The school will review the attendance record of the student to evaluate APPE progression. Any questions regarding attendance should be directed to the Assistant Dean.
Absences due to site closure. If a site is closed due to holidays or other site closures, the student must make up the time and activities missed and a make-up plan must be arranged with the clinical instructor. It is at the discretion of the clinical instructor to apply prior excess hours spent at the site as credit for missed hours due to absence.
Professional Absences. Absence for participating or attendance at professional meetings or professional job or residency interviews requires pre-approval from the site clinical instructor. Students are allotted a total of 7 Professional Days during the entire advanced APPE year. These days are only to be used to attend professional meetings or job interviews. Professional Days do not need to be made up. Travel to and from an interview is considered part of a professional day. No more than 5 days may be used in any one block. Requests for time off during the first or last weeks of block are highly discouraged. Each student seeking absences from their site for this reason should critically examine the benefits to be gained and the risks/conflicts associated with missing the APPE experience. Clear indications for attending the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting, APhA, PSW or other professional meetings include presentation of a poster or participating in the Personnel Placement Service for residencies or jobs that would begin within the following year. However, these are not the only justifiable reasons to attend. Misrepresenting professional days is considered academic misconduct.

*Planned Absences – example includes time off for pre-arranged medical appointments.
**Unplanned Absences – example includes absence due to illness.

APPE Grading Policy

Course Letter Grades. An earned grade of C or better in any APPE course results in successful completion of the course. An earned grade lower than a C in any APPE course will result in course failure and the student will go before the Student Promotion and Academic Review Committee (SPARC).
Grading Quality Assurance. Student grades are monitored after each block. APPE faculty will contact students via email if students earn course assignments less than a C.
Performance Alert. Students will be required to meet with APPE course faculty in person or via technology to review course assignment grades if students receive:
1. Two assignment grades less than a C for the same type of course assignment in any APPE rotation. (E.g. clinical inquiry, case presentation, project presentation).
2. Three assignment grades less than a C for any assignments in any APPE rotation.
Students will be required to write a SMART plan with a timeline for improvement for future rotations.

APPE Hour Log

Explanation – To assure you receive credit for clerkship hours completed during the fourth year, you will need to complete and submit the APPE hour log. You will need to complete the log for each date of the block and submit the log by the course deadline.

Expectations

Enter your name on the APPE hour log
Enter the dates for each day of the block on your APPE hour log
Enter the hours completed by location – IE – onsite or remote if applicable
Enter the activities completed for each day of the block on your APPE hour log

Evaluation – The APPE hour log is a course requirement. Submit your APPE hour log by the course deadline to receive credit.

Incidental Costs

Students are responsible for various costs that are associated with rotations. Examples of incidental costs include but are not limited to:

Parking
Transportation to APPE site
Housing
Meals eaten while at APPE site
Name badge
Immunizations / blood work
Copying costs
Site health and survey platforms

International APPE Rotations

Students selected to complete international APPE rotations must adhere to the policies as stated in the application process. Students are expected to act professionally at all times while abroad. Assignments are due as listed in the 760 Elective Pharmacy Practice Manual.

Professional Meetings

Please see the Attendance Policy.

Referencing Literature

Please see the Reference Policy in Experiential Education Policies.

References for project and case presentations in APPE courses:

Must be secondary or primary literature sources.
Industry websites are UNACCEPTABLE.
Students must state what databases were searched (e.g., PubMed, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, etc.) during the introduction to the project presentation.

APPE Seminar

Seminar Purpose. APPE seminars assist students in preparing for post-graduation positions in addition to fostering community during the fourth year. Seminar topics are selected to review:
1. Therapeutic topics and law updates for the national board exams
2. Pharmacy tools such as DUE, ADR, EBM, and MedWatch
3. Career building skills
4. Topics as outlined by 2016 ACPE Standards
Seminar Schedule.
1. 2021 – 2022 APPE seminars will be held virtually. Most seminars will be available asynchronously with assessment questions and synchronous discussions. There are some seminars that will be synchronous without a discussion. The Master Seminar Schedule includes seminar topics, seminar presenters, and seminar format. Please check the seminar schedule for updates and changes throughout the year.
2. Seminar topics are color-coded.
  - Black – seminars are available either asynchronously or synchronously
  - Purple – seminars that all students must view online by the specified deadline even if off during that block.

Seminar Coordinators. UW faculty seminar coordinators oversee seminars by block and review seminar questions and discussion attendance. The faculty coordinators include:

Professor Kieser	Blocks 1, 2, and 3
Professor Margolis	Blocks 4 and 5
Professor Pigarelli	Blocks 6, 7, and 8

Seminar discussion facilitators are located in each region and facilitate seminar discussions. Facilitators should be contacted with any questions regarding seminar discussion times. The seminar facilitators include

Cathy Lea	Eau Claire Region
Morgan Berger	Green Bay/Appleton Region
Adam Gregg	LaCrosse Region
Faculty Coordinators	Madison Region
Jennifer Koch	Milwaukee Region
Claire Lee	Wausau Region

Seminar Conduct.Students are expected to be prepared for seminars and discussions, act professionally, and pay attention and participate the entire time of each seminar and/ or discussion. If a student engages in unprofessional conduct (which includes not paying attention to the speaker/discussion facilitator), the student may be asked to leave the session, and no credit will be granted for seminar attendance.
Seminar Grading. To receive seminar attendance credit students are required to:
1. Attend seminars and discussions. Attendance will be taken for each seminar and discussion.
2. Answer and submit responses to seminar asynchronous quiz assessments by the specified deadline.
3. Participate in seminars and/or discussions. Students will be expected to participate in discussions by answering discussion questions. Students not attending virtual seminar sessions and/or not submitting assessment quizzes will not receive seminar attendance credit. For each seminar and/or discussion missed, a one-point deduction will be made from the APPE course final grade.
Students not attending seminar sessions and/or not submitting pre-assignments will not receive seminar attendance credit. For each seminar missed, a two-point deduction will be made from the APPE course final grade.
Seminar Attendance.
1. All students in APPE rotations are expected to view and/or attend APPE seminars virtually. All students are expected to attend APPE seminar discussions virtually.
2. Please Note: if students have a block off then students are not expected to attend seminars. However, if a required seminar (purple topic) is scheduled during the block off, students must view the seminar online and answer the assessment questions by the posted due date.
3. In the event of an absence, students must contact the faculty seminar coordinator in charge of seminar for the specific block. Students need to contact the faculty coordinator PRIOR to the seminar date to avoid missing points and make an alternative attendance plan.
Online Seminar Viewing.
1. Please Note: Computers at University Health Services and UW Hospital and Clinics should not be used to view clerkship seminars.
Use of Technology Devices.(ie. smart phones, tablets, etc.) Students are responsible for making sure assignments are completed correctly/uploaded in Canvas. If an assignment fails to record, the student assumes full responsibility for the technology failure and will receive a score of zero (0) for the assignment. Students are STRONGLY ADVISED to immediately check Canvas to self-verify that assignments are uploaded successfully, even if the “thank you” screen was displayed. See the Use of Technology Devices Policy for more information.

UW School of Pharmacy Professional Development Event

The UW School of Pharmacy supports professional development by offering a multi-day career preparation and career fair. This event usually takes place in the fall over two days. Students are expected to participate in this event as part of their APPE rotation attendance. Students will sign in each day of the Professional Development Event to confirm attendance and participation. Failure to attend or not sign in will result in loss of points for the APPE rotation in which the Professional Development Event occurs.
Students completing rotations outside of Wisconsin during the Professional Development Event will not attend the event but will complete an alternative assignment. Students will need to contact the Seminar Faculty Coordinator to obtain the alternative assignment. The assignment is due by the end of the block in which the Professional Development Event occurs.