The NTPD Program experiential training curriculum includes 30 weeks or 1200 hours of advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) in the following practice areas:

  • Drug Information – Required for students admitted prior to the 2014 fall semester.
  • Ambulatory Care – Required
  • Health-System Pharmacy/Inpatient – Required
  • Elective One
  • Elective Two
  • Elective Three

The required APPE rotation practice areas are drug information (for students admitted prior to the 2014 fall semester), ambulatory care and health-system pharmacy/inpatient. In addition, there are three elective APPE rotations. Elective APPEs may be selected from a variety of medicine subspecialties, such as neurology, oncology, nutrition, infectious disease, critical care, psychiatry and pediatrics. Students can choose from other elective rotation choices including: pharmaceutical care projects, community pharmacy, education, administration, industry, managed care and clinical research.

The APPEs can be accomplished by performing live rotations on a full- or part-time basis and in cooperation with the rotation preceptor.

In addition, the APPEs may also be completed through a combination of live rotations and challenging some APPEs for academic credit through a credit-by-challenge submission, within the APPE guidelines of the program. All students must perform two live APPE rotations.

Students have increased flexibility in how they complete the APPE rotations. Students should read through the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience policy to learn more about this upcoming change. Students can locate more information about rotations and credit-by-challenges below.

North American-Trained PharmD (NTPD) students must perform 30 weeks or 1200 hours of advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) rotations. The APPEs may be completed through a combination of rotations and credit-by-challenge submissions provided the NTPD student has the appropriate work experience.

  • Drug Information – Required for NTPD students admitted prior to the 2014 fall semester
  • Ambulatory Care – Required
  • Health-System Pharmacy/Inpatient – Required
  • Elective One
  • Elective Two
  • Elective Three

For Canadian NTPD students, ACPE accreditation standards specify the three required APPE rotations, which are drug information, ambulatory care and health-system pharmacy/inpatient, to be performed in the United States if the student joined the NTPD Program after July 1, 2007. However, elective APPE rotations can be completed in Canada.

The Distance Degrees and Programs (DDP) Office will make every attempt to arrange rotations at sites near the student’s workplace, and rotations may be available on a part-time basis in cooperation with the preceptor. Some rotations may receive approval if a conflict of interest is not present at the student’s practice site. Students are asked to remain flexible, as some regions of the country, including rural areas, have limited rotations sites. In those cases, NTPD students will complete their rotations in Colorado. All Colorado rotations are six weeks in length, or 240 hours, and completed on a full-time or 40 hour per week basis.

*Drug Information Rotation – The drug information rotation is a required rotation for NTPD students admitted prior to the 2014 fall semester. The drug information is the first rotation students complete, and this rotation provides students with skills, which are essential to be successful in subsequent rotations. Students may complete the drug information rotation through a traditional rotation site, such as a drug information center, or through the NTPD Program’s online drug information rotation. Students work one-on-one with an experienced drug information preceptor by email and phone, and have similar learning experiences to those offered in an on-site university-based drug information center, such as responding to questions, preparing newsletters and drug formulary monographs, and participating in journal clubs. The online drug information rotation is offered every semester. In addition, the online drug information rotation is considered as one of the two required live rotations.

Manual and Policies – The DDP Office recommends all NTPD students read through the documents linked below to learn more about the APPE rotations, including the pre-requisites to begin rotations.

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In the North American-Trained PharmD (NTPD) Program, practice competency is determined by the mastery of outcomes. Many NTPD students have already achieved the outcomes for one or more advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) rotations during their pharmacy careers. Therefore, the Credit-by-Challenge Subcommittee, with the support of the Experiential Education Committee, developed a credit-by-challenge portfolio process to grant academic credit for one or more APPE rotations based on the NTPD student’s work experience.

NTPD students may submit a credit-by-challenge portfolio through the abbreviated or full portfolio credit-by-challenge format once the NTPD student completes an advising call. Students can learn more about each format in the tabs below.

Manual and Policies – The DDP Office recommends all NTPD students read through the documents linked below to learn more about the credit-by-challenge process, which provides more information about the review process, submission deadlines, and formatting.

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A full portfolio credit-by-challenge submission requires the NTPD student to prepare a portfolio addressing the components for the outcomes the student would be assessed on if the student completed an APPE rotation. The NTPD student addresses outcomes by writing a narrative description, which defines how the NTPD student’s current clinical work supports each outcome. The NTPD student includes documentation, which is the physical evidence supporting the work experience written in the student’s narrative description.

A NTPD student preparing a full portfolio credit-by-challenge submission has the opportunity to work with an advisor. The advisor is a NTPD Program graduate, who successfully completed a full portfolio credit-by-challenge and practices in the area the student is challenging. ​​​​

The ITPD experiential training curriculum begins within the didactic curriculum, where we provide 300 contact hours of introductory and advanced introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs/aIPPEs). Students start with a 4-week session in Colorado at the beginning of the program and end with a 4-week live session in Colorado that assures readiness for advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs), or rotations.

Upon completion of the live and online didactic curriculum, the experiential program continues with six, six-credit hour advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs), in the following practice areas:

  • 1 Community Pharmacy – Required
  • 2 Health-System Pharmacy* – Required – (Includes at least one inpatient general medicine patient care APPE)
  • 1 Ambulatory Care – Required
  • Elective One
  • Elective Two

Elective APPE rotations may be selected from a variety of medicine subspecialties, such as neurology, oncology, nutrition, infectious diseases, critical care, psychiatry and pediatrics, or other elective rotation choices such as pharmaceutical care projects, education, administration, industry, managed care and clinical research.

All APPE rotations are six weeks in length (or 240 hours) completed on a full-time basis, totaling 36 weeks or 1440 APPE rotation hours.

ITPD students must complete all required APPE rotations and at least one (1) elective APPE rotation in the United States (US) ITPD students do not have to complete the APPE rotations consecutively, so students have the option to come to the US for multiple shorter periods of time during the second live session. ITPD students have the opportunity to complete one (1) elective APPE rotation at an international rotation site. To be considered for this opportunity, the student will submit a request for review and approval. Students can locate more information about rotations within the Current Students section.

The program overview includes experiential courses.

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  • Fall Semester
    • The Office of Experiential Programs (OEP) will email to students a survey, where students will identify the number of and type of rotations to complete and choose when to complete rotations from the provided rotation timeframes.
    • The DDP Office will review each student's completed survey and will confirm, by email, each student's eligibility to participate in the Colorado APPE rotation match process.
  • December - January
    • All eligible students will review the rotation site descriptions, which defines where they may complete APPE rotations in Colorado and will enter their rotation site preferences through CORE.
    • Students who submit their site preferences in CORE are expected to complete assigned rotation(s) at the assigned rotation site(s) and during the assigned rotation block(s). Students will adhere to the Rotation Site Availability and Drop Policy.
  • Late February - The entire match should be completed! Students will view their schedules in CORE and will have one or two days to request small changes to their schedules. After that, the preceptor(s) will be notified and no further changes will be accepted.

Eligibility Requirements to Participate in the Colorado APPE Rotation Match - All students should work with their academic advisor to confirm their eligibility to participate in the Colorado APPE rotation match.