Teaching and assessing primary care skills: The Family Practice Simulator model

Objectives. To describe development of a Family Practice Simulator (FPS), an interprofessional curricular innovation in which physicians, pharmacists, and other health care professionals work with standardized patients over the course of a simulated 71/2-hour "typical" day in a family practice setting. Assessment. Outcomes for the FPS were developed through review of previous literature, standards of practice guidelines, and educational outcomes documents. Simulations were developed, including pharmacist-patient interviews, pharmacist-physician interactions, and pharmacist-nurse interactions. Results. Post-workshop evaluations (n=8) demonstrated the value of the FPS in rapidly orienting and training pharmacists moving into primary care practice and assisting them in developing new collaborative, interprofessional teamwork skills. Conclusions. While clinical simulation has traditionally been focused on patient-practitioner interactions only, the value of simulating a practice style, location (eg, a family practice setting), and multiple types of tasks are beneficial in training pharmacists for more effective, collaborative work with physicians.