Man and woman in front of medicine shelf

Office of Experiential Education

Community.  Integrity.  Service.  Quality.

More than empty words, these are guiding principles for the faculty, staff, and students at Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy (PCSP). The Presbyterian College motto, Dum Vivimus Servimus (“While we live, we serve”), the PCSP “Care for the Community” focus, and the aforementioned principles – all assimilate into the sweeping ACPE goal to “assure the optimal preparation of pharmacists for current and future practice, and ultimately to improve the healthcare outcomes of the patients and populations that they serve.” Additionally, these attributes also lend credence to the rationale for creating the PCSP program.

Experiential education provides students with real-life active participation and in-depth exposure to a variety of patient care settings. Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs) of 320 hours are conducted during their first 3 years of pharmacy school (40hrs P1, 160hrs P2, and 120hrs P3). IPPEs in the PCSP program will be conducted “longitudinally”, or during the academic semesters; the big advantage here is a better ability to integrate didactic learning with applied learning.  Patient care practices taught in the classroom by on-site faculty are put to practice, reinforced and advanced in a coordinated educational process.  In order to institute the longitudinal IPPE process, students conduct their IPPEs with a 30-mile radius of Clinton during their 1st year, 50 miles during their 2nd year, and 70 miles during their 3rd year when they will spend a full day each week in a number of increasingly clinically-focused settings. IPPEs familiarize students with practice skills and professional attributes they will continuously build upon, even after graduation.  As a testament to the pillars of Service and Community principles already mentioned, students will also participate in an additional 15 hours of Service Learning during these first 3 years.

The Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) Program of approximately 1440 hours is for students in their 4th (P4) year of pharmacy school. APPEs augment students’ classroom education by providing interdisciplinary experiences in a larger spectrum of direct patient care and contemporary pharmacy practice settings. To gain these experiences, students are assigned throughout the final year of the program to pharmacist-preceptors at affiliated practice sites throughout South Carolina and beyond for required and elective experiential education courses/rotations.

PCSP’s Office of Experiential Education is responsible for the overall planning, institution, and oversight of the IPPE and APPE programs. In collaboration with adjunct faculty preceptors and advisory committees, the office strives to ensure that our efforts meet ACPE Standards as well as the goals and objectives of the school’s Mission Statement. Learning objectives for each experience – or rotation – as well as the requirements and responsibilities of preceptors and practice sites are all defined throughout the Experiential Education website.

Contact Us

headshot of Mary Douglas SMithMary Douglas Smith, PharmD
Director of Experiential Education
Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice
Email Dr. Smith