Experiential Education Program

Our clinical rotation program is one of the country’s most diverse and encompassing experiential learning in many practice specialties and professional settings.

The Experiential Education at EMSOP comprises approximately 40 percent of the curriculum and includes Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs and APPEs). The experiential based course work occurs throughout the professional curriculum beginning in the summer after the first professional year. The experiential coursework is routinely identified by graduating students as the most valuable part of the curriculum.

Experiential Education refers to pharmacy practice learning activities students complete within real-world pharmacy settings. Activities typically begin as an introductory “shadow opportunity” to community and hospital/intuitional pharmacy practice settings during the first three professional years (IPPEs) and progress to higher levels of practice as students complete advanced experiences (APPEs) during the fourth professional year.

The Introductory and Intermediate components are completed throughout the students’ first two professional years during the summer semesters. Through IPPEs, students begin to practice skills related to the profession and they experience the responsibilities of practitioners working in these settings.  The IPPEs complement the didactic curriculum and involve a variety of experiences including shadowing pharmacists, participating in the drug delivery process, observing the use of automation technology in pharmacy practice, and participating in community health education activities.  The IPPE experiences additionally prepare students for the final stages of the curriculum.

The Advance components are completed in the fourth professional year which consists entirely of advanced practice rotations. These rotations are offered throughout the academic year to prepare students for entry into pharmacy practice. After successful completion of a minimum of 1440 practice hours in the APPE rotations, students may sit for the NAPLEX and Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination and apply to the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy for pharmacist licensure.

Students are placed around the state of New Jersey along with out of state sites for introductory, intermediate, and advanced practice rotations. The experiences at various pharmacy practice sites allow students to apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they have been developing in the classroom and laboratory settings. Many EMSOP graduates are offered employment or residency opportunities at sites where they completed and attained experiential requirements during pharmacy school which is the best compliment.

P1 Year IPPE Community Experience Rotation

One – 4 weeks/160 hours

P2 Year IPPE Hospital/Institutional Experience Rotation

One – 4 weeks/160 hours

P4 Year Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Rotations

Eight – 5 week Rotations/1440 hours

Required: Community, Hospital, EMSOP Faculty Acute Care, EMSOP Faculty Internal Medicine, EMSOP Faculty Elective, Ambulatory Care, Clinical Other and General Elective

The Office of Experiential Education is responsible for managing and supporting IPPE and APPE pharmacy students throughout the curriculum.

Our current network of preceptors spans not only the state of New Jersey but across the country as well. Students can select from a network of over 1,000 sites and 1900  preceptors for rotation placements.  Preceptors at these sites are highly trained pharmacists with expertise in their specialty area of pharmacy practice.  The Office provides a “special request” process where students that reside outside of New Jersey have the opportunity to network and identify preceptors to host them for IPPE’s and APPE’s.

If you are interested in joining our preceptor network, please email the Experiential Education Program’s central email address: rotation@pharmacy.rutgers.edu.

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