Advanced Pharmacy Practice Simulation Lab

The Center’s first task was to plan and construct the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Simulation (APPS) Lab. With Dr. Tenerelli’s specifications and supervision during construction, combined with support from administration, faculty, and donations from independent pharmacies, the College of Pharmacy created a working replica of a pharmacy’s prescription dispensing environment. The APPS lab was designed to allow students to simulate real-life pharmacy experiences and challenges in a structured environment. Students must build upon and apply knowledge from previous didactic experiences to deliver quality patient care in various entry-level practice settings. The APPS lab allows students to become participants, not solely recipients of didactic information. As such, facilitators can identify gaps in student knowledge, experience, critical thinking, and clinical decision-making skills. The APPS lab provides a bridge between theory and clinical practice, with the immediate effect of preparing students for their (IPPE) and (APPE) experiential rotations.

The APPS Lab also plays a vital role in developing student professional identity formation (PIF). Here, pharmacy students are allowed to immerse themselves in a realistic pharmacy environment, allowing them to think, act, and feel like practicing pharmacists. Students fill prescriptions while considering the steps necessary to fill prescriptions accurately to ensure patient safety. Additionally, early exposure to the pharmacy setting allows pharmacy students to integrate the values, behaviors, and characteristics that will allow them to perform their work successfully.

The APPS Lab puts a significant emphasis on application and professional identity formation. Pharmacy students are learning the techniques not for a grade but for the knowledge that will set them up for readiness in IPPE and APPE rotations and, subsequently, their real-life work.

College of Pharmacy converts space into the APPS Lab.

Patient Counseling Station