Practitioners' assessment of the externship experience: a retrospective analysis. Part II.

This study further examines the externship of participants in the first four years of Illinois' mandatory externship program utilizing a mail survey as described in an earlier report. This presentation focuses on the accomplishment of specific objectives during the externship and assesses their importance in current pharmacy practice. The data revealed that, on average, these objectives were perceived to have been only slightly to moderately accomplished yet were rated between moderate and high importance to current practice. Females rated the objective statements pertaining to patient contact and drug monitoring skills more favorably than males, but reported lower ratings for both the accomplishment and importance of administrative skills when compared to male respondents. Several significant differences were found based on externship environment and further emphasize the need for multi-environmental experiences in practice based programs.