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Credit by Challenge Process

The Nontraditional Clerkship Assessment Panel has developed a portfolio-based challenge process to permit granting of academic credit for one or more advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) courses, or rotations, based on your professional pharmacy experience. Panel members support the value of performing preceptorships in the development of clinical pharmacy practitioners, and recognize that one-on-one training with an experienced clinical preceptor can be very valuable, even to pharmacists with substantial experience in similar practice areas.

However, in an outcomes-based degree program such as the NTPD, practice competency is determined by your mastery of performance outcomes. Many of you have already achieved the outcomes for one or more preceptorships in your pharmacy practice careers. The part-time format of the NTPD program facilitates this process, since you will likely have opportunities to apply knowledge gained from didactic courses to the management of patients under your care.

Remember to keep careful records of your clinical activities and achievements, on an ongoing basis, since the credit-by-challenge process requires that you supply objective documentation to support your challenge.

You can start planning for rotations and receiving credit by challenge at any point in the program. You will not be able to determine which rotations to take prospectively until having a pretty good idea of what rotations you can challenge. To get started thinking about the rotations you may challenge, review the Documents for Credit-by-Challenge section below. These documents will further explain the review process and list the outcomes you will need to demonstrate to receive credit for your experience.

Once you have reviewed the credit-by-challenge materials, prepare a 1-2 page summary of your clinical pharmacy practice experiences over the past 5-10 years. Please end this summary to Pam Duval and she will use the information you have prepared to assign a credit-by-challenge advisor, a pharmacist who is familiar with the NTPD program and your type of pharmacy practice. Your adviser will guide you through the credit-by-challenge process and help you present your documentation in the most appropriate manner.

Be sure to discuss your challenge plans with your credit-by-challenge advisor before preparing your first portfolio. We also strongly recommend that you submit a draft of your challenge to your advisor for review before submitting it to the Credit-by-Challenge Assessment Panel.

Tuition is not charged for rotations that are successfully challenged, but a challenge fee applies.

Documents for Credit-by-Challenge Process
The following documents will guide you in preparing either an abbreviated or full credit-by-challenge submission.

• CAPE* Outcomes. Read definitions of specific professional practice-based outcomes or demonstrable skills that students may be required to accomplish, depending on the type of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience course, or rotation, being performed.
• Outcome Allocation Table. The CAPE educational outcomes table shows which practice-based outcomes are required for various kinds of rotations. Skills that strongly apply to the rotation are indicated with a ++; skills that apply are indicated with a +; skills that may apply are indicated with +/0; and skills that do not apply are indicated by 0.
• Assessment Panel Guidelines describe the process by which the Credit-by-Challenge Assessment Panel determines whether to give credit for a challenge submission.
• Frequently Asked Questions about the credit-by-challenge process.
• Precepting Log for Abbreviated Challenges

*The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's Center for Advancement of Pharmaceutical Education.

Last updated: 8/27/08