The School of Pharmacy proudly offers one of the most robust, patient care-centered Experiential Education programs in the country through its Pharmacist Provider Series.
The Experiential Education team coordinates professional learning experiences for students, advises the Dean on issues relating to professional practice, facilitates Interprofessional Education events, and provides service to more than 800 clinical and affiliate faculty members and preceptors.
The Experiential Education team coordinates Introductory and Intermediate Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) and career-related student advising. The team also places students in health systems, hospitals, community pharmacies, and a variety of other practice sites in the Puget Sound region, state of Washington, and internationally to foster provider readiness.
Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (PY1)
PY1 Wednesdays in Practice (WIP1)
WIP1 is a longitudinal immersion experience the provides students exposure to patient care and interprofessional teams. Students spend time every other week in a health system practice setting (e.g. hospitals, infusion centers, long term care, or behavioral health centers). Students are at their WIP1 practice site every other Wednesday from February to June.
Health System IPPE (HS-IPPE)
HS-IPPE is a focused practice experience that fosters the student’s understanding of fundamental practices and pharmacists’ roles and responsibilities in the health systems setting. Students spend two weeks full-time at their HS-IPPE practice site during summer following PY1.
For questions related to these introductory pharmacy practice experiences, please contact Emily Darst, PharmD at py1ee@uw.edu.
Intermediate Pharmacy Practice Experiences (PY2)
PY2 Wednesdays in Practice (WIP2)
WIP2 is a longitudinal immersion experience that provides students global exposure to patient care and interprofessional teams. Students spend time every other week in an ambulatory care setting or a community practice setting with an integrated practice model. Students are at their WIP2 practice site every other Wednesday from February to June. Students also spend a full week at their WIP2 practice site in June.
Community IPPE (C-IPPE)
C-IPPE is a focused practice experience that fosters the student’s understanding of fundamental practices and pharmacists’ roles and responsibilities in the community setting. Students spend three weeks full-time at their C-IPPE practice site during summer following PY2.
For questions related to these intermediate experiences, please contact Emily Darst, PharmD at py2ee@uw.edu.
Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (PY3-4)
Since April 2022, we’ve transitioned into a new program structure under our Purple Curriculum. Some of the higher-level updates include:
In summary, higher-level changes include:
- Moving to six-week APPE experiences – providing a greater depth of experience for each APPE
- Students completing 48 total weeks of experience – giving students more time to prepare for pharmacy practice
- Starting APPEs during Spring PY3 year – allowing students to be exposed to APPEs sooner into their curriculum
- Prioritizing completion of core experiences by the first half of the APPE experience – establishing a solid core foundation experience for all students
Other general program requirements:
Students are required to complete four separate six-week core experiences in General Medicine, Inpatient Pharmacy, Ambulatory Care practice, and Community Pharmacy. Additionally, students are expected to complete at least one APPE with an underserved population. Of the 48 weeks, at least 36 weeks must be experiences with direct patient-care activities.
For questions related to APPEs, please contact appemgr@uw.edu.
UWSOP Experiential Education links and resources: