The Office of Experiential Education (OEE) supports the experiential courses and practicum experiences for the following academic programs.
To learn which academic program and experiential course might be best suited to your practice site or workplace, please contact our office. A member of our team will get in touch to help determine the best match and share our site and experiential partner onboarding and training processes.
Experiential Site Eligibility
To participate in the experiential education program as an experiential site, the following criteria must be met:
- Practice site is licensed and in good standing with the College of Pharmacists of BC (CPBC) or their respective regulatory body
- All registrants at the practice site are in good standing with the CPBC or their respective regulatory body
- The experiential site has a current UBC Student Placement Agreement (SPA) in place
- The experiential site actively encourages and exhibits high-quality patient- and/or client-centered care and best practices
- The practice site provides access to intra- and interprofessional learning experiences
- The experiential site has the necessary human resources (e.g., staffing) and organizational framework that permits appropriate preceptorship and supervision of students
- The experiential site provides sufficient opportunities for students to meet practicum requirements (e.g., patient care interactions, adequate prescription volume, etc.)
- All staff at the experiential site are supportive of student placements and are committed to creating a supportive learning environment for students
- The experiential site has adequate space, equipment and resources (including access to references and technology) to facilitate student learning
- The experiential site can accommodate student learning in accordance with the program’s attendance policy. For all practicums other than PHRM 270 Community Service Learning, this is 40 hours a week, typically divided as eight-hour days for five days a week, not including breaks. For PHRM 270, this is, at minimum, 20 service-learning hours within the scheduled block dates.
- The experiential site agrees to participate in quality assurance site visits and related activities as initiated by the OEE
Experiential Partner Eligibility
For an individual to participate in the experiential education program as an experiential partner, the following criteria must be met:
- Practice educators must be registered and in good standing with the CPBC or their respective regulatory body and must not have had a disciplinary finding nor currently be the subject of a disciplinary hearing
- Practice educators must not have any limit or condition that prohibits them from supervising or precepting pharmacy students and/or international pharmacy graduates
- Experiential partners have completed the required onboarding and training prior to the beginning of their scheduled practicum
- Practice educators have a minimum of six months experience within their practice area or setting
Responsibilities of an Experiential Partner
The OEE strives to identify experiential partners who are committed to teaching and supporting our students and will serve as positive role models. Experiential partner responsibilities include:
- Facilitating student learning and providing opportunities for course activities, including repeat opportunities to demonstrate particular skills/knowledge where needed
- Reviewing and being familiar with the required learning objectives and practicum course activities
- Ensuring adequate individualized student instruction, guidance and supervision at the site
- Observing, assessing and documenting student performance and providing ongoing and timely constructive feedback
- Providing a positive, safe, inclusive, non-discriminatory experience for students free from harmful behaviours such as bullying and harassment
The following qualities and values are sought in our experiential partners:
- Interest in precepting and engaging with students
- Mentorship and professionalism
- Empathy and care for patients and/or clients
- Striving towards exceptional coaching and teaching skills
- Seeking and being receptive to constructive feedback from students and the Faculty
Quality Assurance Site Visits
To maintain the quality assurance of our experiential sites and ensure partners feel supported and connected to the Faculty, the OEE endeavors to reach out and engage with as many of our experiential sites and partners as possible. Sites selected for visitation are contacted by the OEE to arrange the site visit and are provided with email confirmation details along with information on what to expect during the visit.
Each site visit is approximately 45 to 60 minutes and is intended to be an opportunity for our OEE team to meet with experiential partners, take a short tour of the site, ask questions to gain a better understanding of our students’ experience at the site, and solicit any feedback or answer any questions the site might have about our program. All information collected is used to enhance the quality of the practicum experiences for both our students and experiential sites and partners.
Once the site visit is completed, the OEE will reach out to the site once again to follow up on any questions and concerns along with a feedback survey to gain a better understanding of the site's experience with the visit.
Feedback
An effective student-experiential partner partnership begins with an open dialogue, including respectful, professional and constructive communication throughout the course of the practicum. Students are encouraged to assume an active role in the feedback process as timely and constructive feedback will assist the experiential partner in enhancing the student’s learning experience on-site.
Formal feedback is solicited by the OEE from both students at the end of each practicum as well as annually from our experiential partners. All received feedback is noted and reviewed by the OEE and utilized to inform necessary changes to the experiential education program.
Experiential partners may be contacted for further information regarding feedback received. Required follow-up with a site is determined on a case-by-case basis and documented. Students and experiential partners are encouraged to provide informal feedback to the OEE at any time.