PSHP 2026 Residency Conference

This study examines the confidence of advanced pharmacy practice experience students in prescribing medications after graduation and the teaching strategies influencing their confidence.
A Qualtrics survey was sent to APPE students at 19 pharmacy schools to assess their confidence in prescribing medications as future pharmacists. The Likert-scale survey measured prescribing confidence, teaching strategies, work experience, demographics, and post-graduation plans. Data collection runs from 3/16/2026 to 5/16/2026. Descriptive statistics will evaluate prescribing confidence, and ordinal regression will analyze the association between teaching strategies on prescribing confidence. This study received IRB approval from Saint Joseph’s University.


Data collection is ongoing. As of 04/10/2026 a total of 154 students responded with 67.97% feeling confident to prescribe upon graduation. Among those reporting prescribing confidence, cardiovascular 14.40% and gastrointestinal 13.62% diseases had more than 10% of students reporting prescribing confidence. Teaching strategies respondents selected as extreme contributors to their confidence include experiential learning 67.80%, case-based learning 29.66%, independent study 20.34%, role-play 19.49%, didactic learning 15.25%, team-based learning 11.02%, and flipped classroom 10.17%. Additionally, 59.32% reported needing more training before starting a prescribing role, while 40.68% felt prepared without additional training.


Preliminary analysis suggests that a majority of students feel confident prescribing medications upon graduation and attribute this confidence most often to experiential learning. Students who felt confident prescribing also felt more confident prescribing medications for cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases. More students feel more training is needed before starting a prescribing role.


IRB Approval: Approved January 26, 2026 by the Saint's Joseph's University IRB