Pharmacy and Patient Care Experiences
The Pharm.D. curriculum includes pharmacy practice or patient care experiences starting in the first semester of the program. In addition to the FCOP policies and procedures, all students engaging in patient care must meet and maintain the following requirements:
- Pharmacist Intern Licensure;
- Respect and Protection of Protected Health Information;
- Professional Liability Insurance Coverage;
- Standards for Professional Dress for Experiential Learning; and
- Screenings, trainings, certifications, and immunizations as outlined in the FCOP Experiential Education Manual
Pharmacist Internship Requirements
All students are required to register with the Texas State Board of Pharmacy (TSBP) as an intern during their first year of the program. Applications and fingerprints should be sent to the TSBP as instructed by the FCOP. Students are responsible for maintaining an active intern license in Texas, which is a requirement for participation in experiential coursework. If assigned to experiential coursework outside of Texas, students must apply for an intern license for that state and maintain active licensure while completing experiential coursework in that state. Students are required to follow all Board of Pharmacy rules and regulations during their experiential learning experiences. Failure to obtain licensure may delay on time graduation.
Students must communicate any and all criminal offenses to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy as part of their pharmacy intern licensure. Failure to disclose offenses to the board may result in licensing delays and/or ability to become licensed. Criminal offenses must also be reported to the FCOP Office of Student Affairs and Office of Experiential Education. Additional information, reporting, and reporting timelines are provided under Criminal Background Checks and Drug Screens.
Protected Health Information (Patient Privacy)
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 protects the privacy of an individual’s identifiable health information called Protected Health Information (PHI). Students may encounter patient- and caregiver-related information during classroom, laboratory, experiential, and extracurricular activities. Students, as healthcare professionals, are obligated to respect any and all confidences revealed during any FCOP educational experiences including but not limited to, patient conditions, medical and pharmacy records, economic information and professional policies.
No information should be circulated or discussed outside the clinical realms of the learning experience or in any inappropriate manner during the experience. Records containing PHI must not be removed from experiential sites. Any and all patient records must be destroyed according to the sites policies no later than the last day of rotation. Disclosure of information or inappropriate discussion of information is also a violation of the patient’s or preceptor’s trust and can cause harmful consequences for the patient, their caregivers, or the experiential site. Situations involving breach of HIPAA and disclosure of PHI is illegal and any student who chooses to violate this policy will undergo severe consequences.
HIPAA Training: The FCOP will provide initial and annual HIPAA training as part of the curriculum for the pharmacy students. Students should maintain a copy of their HIPAA certification within their portfolio. Students may need to complete a clinical site-specific HIPAA training in addition to the FCOP course.
Access to Confidential Information: Students may have access to privileged information about a patient/caregiver’s health and financial information, practice site information, and other information that is considered to be personal. Access to confidential subject information is permitted only on a need-to-know basis. Additionally, students are to keep all user log-in and passwords confidential when using any electronic device as well.
Disclosure of Confidential Information: HIPAA violations include, but are not limited to: disclosing patient information verbally or in writing (including email), unauthorized viewing of patient health information, talking about patient’s private health information in a public venue, posting of protected health information on social media, and posting photographs of patients without their permission. HIPAA violations are reportable to the healthcare institution, the FCOP (as a violation of the FCOP Honor Code), and for potential legal action. Consequences for violations include, but are not limited to, failure of a course or course assignment, removal from a clinical practice site, expulsion from the FCOP, and/or legal penalties.
Professional Liability Insurance Requirements
All FCOP students are covered by a medical professional liability insurance policy, offered for all medical profession students in the UT System. The insurance premium for this coverage is included as part of the tuition of all Pharm.D. students and is renewed annually. The insurance policy covers students and faculty during all FCOP organized experiential, professional student organization, and service-learning activities while in the Pharm.D. program. The policy requires appropriate student supervision while providing patient care. Students can request verification of insurance from the FCOP Dean’s Office. The insurance policy does not cover students at their place of employment. It is recommended that each pharmacy student maintain private professional liability insurance to cover their activities outside of the FCOP (e.g. employment).
Student Experiential Placements
The FCOP Office of Experiential Education coordinates and assigns all experiential placement for students throughout the curriculum (professional years 1-4). While individual student preferences are considered for experiential placement, there are NO guarantees that a student will be assigned at a certain experiential site or within a specific region. Site placement depends on many factors including but not limited to: site/preceptor selection criteria, site affiliation agreements, site offerings, licensure, number of student requests, preceptor and site availability, etc. Students need to be aware that they may be asked to drive up to 2 hours for a practice experience, which is considered a reasonable and appropriate commute. Students are responsible for maintaining reliable transportation throughout introductory and advanced practice experiences. Students are responsible for their own housing arrangements and expenses during practice experiences.
Standards for Professional Dress for Experiential Learning
All FCOP students are expected to adhere to the highest professional standards as outlined by the FCOP Student Handbook and Experiential Education Manual. Student pharmacists are representing themselves, their peers, and the FCOP. All students must demonstrate professional communication, dress, and demeanor at all times. The dress code outlined in the FCOP Experiential Education Manual applies to all students enrolled in experiential coursework. Exceptions to the dress code may be directed by site-specific dress code requirements. Students are responsible for checking with each experiential site ahead of their rotation start date. For a complete description of the professional dress for rotations, please refer to the FCOP Experiential Education Manual.