Title

Impact of Fourth-Year Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) on Cultural and Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Knowledge and Skills Development

Introduction: Pharmacy accreditation requirements include cultural competency and SDOH skills. The impact of APPEs on these areas has been minimally explored and not within the same cohort.

Research Question or Hypothesis: Do cultural and SDOH knowledge and skills increase after APPEs?

Study Design: Pre/post validated surveys

Methods: Pharmacy students completed the Self-Assessment of Perceived Level of Cultural Competence (SAPLCC) survey with anonymous codes at the end of their third-year capstone course (required) and APPEs (optional). SAPLCC consists of 75 items (4-point Likert scale) within six domains and one global score (total 300 points). Five demographic survey items were included. Average domain scores were classified as low (<2), moderate (2-3) and high (>3). Sum scores are domain items added together. Matched surveys were analyzed with descriptive statistics and paired T-test for sum scores with SPSS v29; p≤0.05 significant.

Results: Seventy-three students completed both surveys (75% response). Matched cohort was 25.4+3.7 years old, 74% female, 86% White, 40% Arab-American, 46% Christian, and 25% Muslim.

All domain and global sum scores after APPEs were not statistically different from pre fourth-year scores.

Conclusion: Cultural and SDOH knowledge and skills did not increase after APPEs. Self-assessed knowledge and encounter domains were the lowest after APPEs. Potentially enhancing APPE training in these areas could increase student abilities.