School of Pharmacy

Experiential education provides students with real-life active participation and in-depth exposure in a variety of pharmacy practice settings. Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) of 300 hours are required of students in their first three (3) years of pharmacy school (P1, P2, and P3).  Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) of 1,600 hours are required of students in their 4th year of pharmacy school (P4). 

IPPEs and APPEs augment students’ classroom education by providing experiences in many aspects of contemporary pharmacy practice, and together represent approximately one-third of the four-year curriculum. Knowledge, practice skills, and professional attitudes and values must be integrated and applied, reinforced, and advanced throughout the didactic and experiential curriculum. 

To enable required and elective practice experiences, the School must have sufficient numbers and mix of preceptors and affiliated practice sites to enable students’ IPPE and APPE assignments to support the student’s achievement of educational outcomes:

• 1,500 rotations (IPPE & APPE) each year representing ~266,000 hours of experiential learning

• 1,000 active preceptors in and out-of-state

• 120 fully executed site affiliation agreements

• 850 affiliated practice sites, in and out-of-state


Practice sites include: community pharmacies (independent, chain, outpatient, supermarket), correctional facilities, hospitals (community and academic health centers), out-patient clinics, specialty pharmacies, compounding pharmacies, FDA, home infusion centers, Indian Health Service, long-term care companies, managed care companies, military bases, pharmaceutical companies, research sites, national professional associations, and academic teaching sites.

For a copy of the Experiential Education manual, please email oee@vcu.edu.