The information contained here is complementary to that in the Qatar University (QU) Student Handbook. Questions or concerns pertaining to policies and procedures should be directed to the SPEP Coordinator.
Rotation Placements
The student will be randomly assigned only for their first SPEP rotation site during the summer semester of the P2 year. During the Spring Semester of the P2 year, the SPEP Coordinator will liaise with the students to update their home location. Based on site availability, rotation placements will be the responsibility of the SPEP Coordinator and the Site Coordinators considering the best combination of experiences possible within the limits of available and approved sites and preceptors. Every effort will be made to make SPEP assignments to sites that are within a reasonable driving distance. On occasion, the student may be required to drive to a site that is more than 1.5 hours away.
P3-P4 year students will participate in selecting their preferences for SPEP 2-6 rotation sites, based on their SPEP map put together by the SPEP Coordinator, which ensures the students obtain a variety of exposure to a variety of practice sites, including: 2 hospital rotations, 2 community rotations, 1 clinic rotation and 1 elective rotation. Allocation to specific sites will be done through eValue®, the College of Pharmacy experiential education electronic management system, through a process known as “Optimization Scheduling”, whereby eValue® creates a schedule taking into consideration each student’s preferences which are reviewed by the optimizing program
simultaneously to determine the best possible schedule for every student. Through this process, luck of the draw is not a factor. Every student is treated equally, and every student’s preferences are taken into account.
Preceptor Assignment Restrictions
A student may not train under the supervision of a preceptor if they are related to the student by blood or marriage. A student may not train at a community or clinic pharmacy site if the student has worked, or is currently working, at the site as a pharmacy technician or intern. A student may not train at a hospital with a preceptor with whom the student has worked or is currently working with as a pharmacy technician. However, a student may train at a hospital in which they have worked as a pharmacy technician if they are placed with a new preceptor working in a different area.
Transport to Rotation Site
Transport to the rotation site is the responsibility of the student. The student will bear all costs associated with travel. Students should make their own decisions as to whether to risk driving in conditions that may be unsafe (e.g sand storm, extreme flooding, etc). If a student decides that the risk of driving for any reason is high, then she should notify the Site Coordinator or delegate that she shall not be present for that day or part of the day. The missed time must be made up at a time convenient for the preceptor.
Attendance
SPEP rotations are expected to be conducted during daylight hours. Students are expected to be present 8 hours/day, 5 days/week at the rotation site until 160 hours have been accumulated. Students are not permitted to work more than 8 hours in a day unless approved by the SPEP Coordinator. On occasion, additional hours beyond those scheduled may be required in order to complete assignments or other activities. These hours will not count towards the 160 hours required to complete the rotation. Preceptors may also require students to be present at the site during an evening or the weekend to experience the difference in work activities and pace.
During the fourth professional year, students will be required to spend 2 half days on campus (each 3 hours in duration) during the scheduled SPEP-3 to SPEP-6 rotations. The 6 hours spent on campus will not count towards the 160 hours required for the rotation. Students will be expected to make up these 6 hours before the end of each rotation period.
If a student has a personal emergency or is ill, the SPEP Coordinator and the Site Coordinator must be contacted as soon as possible on or before the day of the rotation. The absence should be documented on the Absentee Form and provided to the SPEP Coordinator by the end of the rotation. Additional documentation from a health care provider or relevant third party may be requested for these types of absences.
Requests for time off for any reason other than a personal emergency or illness must be approved in advance. The SPEP Coordinator and the Site Coordinator must approve the request prior to the student taking any time off. Verification of the attendance or a written summary of activities may be required. QU College of Pharmacy (CPh) expects students to modify all other schedules to allow full attendance for their rotation.
Any absence must be made up through an equivalent amount of time (e.g. a weekend or evening shift). The student will be assigned an incomplete (I) until all SPEP rotation requirements have been completed. Completion of all SPEP assignments and evaluations are required for students to be promoted to the next professional year.
Recording of Student Intern Hours
Students will receive academic credit towards graduation for SPEP (PHAR 330,430,530,531,532,533) once 960 hours have been accumulated. For each rotation, students are required to log their hours worked on eValue®. Preceptors are required to sign off on the hours logged on eValue®. This needs to be completed on a weekly basis at a minimum, preferably at the end of each day worked. The record of attendance will be monitored by the SPEP Coordinator, and a passing grade for the respective SPEP course will only be possible once a minimum of 160 hours have been accounted for in the attendance record extracted from eValue® at the end of each rotation.
Student Evaluations by Preceptors
Preceptors will be expected to assess the daily performance of the student and provide constructive feedback periodically to the student and to the Site Coordinator. Deficiencies should be brought up immediately and addressed throughout the rotation instead of waiting until the final evaluation. The Site Coordinator is expected to obtain input from all preceptors involved in the rotation to the completely evaluate the student.
The completion of the midpoint and final evaluation will be the responsibility of the student and Site Coordinator. Site Coordinators are expected to discuss the midpoint and final evaluation forms in detail with the students before they are submitted through eValue®.
Course
Grade for SPEP Rotations
Preceptors and Site Coordinators are responsible for the evaluation of the student on the rotation. The final course grade will be determined by the SPEP Coordinator. The course grade will be based on the following: a). Site Coordinator and preceptor evaluation, b). attendance (160 hours), c). completion of all assignments and/or projects pertaining to the SPEP rotation.
Rotation and Preceptor Evaluation by Students
Students will be expected to evaluate the SPEP rotation, their preceptors, and their experiences at the rotation site. Students should complete the preceptor-site evaluation form and discuss the evaluation with the Site Coordinator on the last day of the rotation. The preceptor & site evaluation forms should be submitted through eValue® to be reviewed by the SPEP Coordinator on the last day of the rotation.
The SPEP Coordinator shall review and outline an action plan for any issues with the preceptors and sites that may require attention prior to the next student placements under the preceptor/site in question. Preceptor and site evaluations will also be reviewed annually and arising issues be discussed with the College of Pharmacy experiential team and the Site Coordinators. The SPEP Coordinator shall also schedule regular or ad hoc site visits to address arising issues and for quality assurance purposes.
SPEP Advisory Committee
The SPEP Advisory Committee made up of Site Coordinators and the SPEP Coordinator will meet periodically to evaluate the SPEP rotations. The goal of the Committee is to improve the SPEP rotations through feedback and suggestions provided by the Site Coordinators and preceptors. The suggestions and improvements discussed by the Committee will be shared with all preceptors at future preceptor development workshops. The preceptor workshops will also provide preceptors with the opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions to improve the quality of the SPEP rotations.
Professional Dress Code
Professional attire promotes a professional appearance conducive to a positive learning environment. Students and preceptors must present a professional image to patients, colleagues, and the community. In most circumstances, business casual attire is acceptable. Local dress codes should prevail. In addition, students must wear a clean, pressed QU CPh issue standard-length, long-sleeve white clinic coat.
Identification Badge
For security and safety purposes, students and preceptors are required to wear the QU identification badge at all times during the rotations.
Contact Procedures for Student and Site Coordinator
Initial Contact with Site Coordinator
Students are required to contact the Site Coordinator no later than 1 week before the rotation begins. During this contact, students should introduce themselves and ask when and where to meet the preceptor on the first day of the rotation. The Site Coordinator should provide any site-specific requirements to the student during this initial interaction.
First Day of the Rotation
The Site Coordinator should provide the students with a comprehensive orientation to the rotation site on the first day of the practice experience. As part of the orientation, the student should be introduced to key personnel, given a tour of the facility, and be provided a schedule for the 4 week rotation. During the first day, students and preceptors should review and discuss the expectations, goals and learning objectives for the rotation.
Compliance with Rotation Site Policies and Procedures
Students must comply with all policies and procedures of the practice site. Preceptors must advise students of the site policies and procedures during the orientation process. Students must respect practice site property. Damage to practice site property may result in disciplinary action by either the site or QU CPh or both. Students must return all property to the site upon completion of the rotation. Any fines assigned by the site for past due, damaged, or destroyed items are the responsibility of the student. Please refer to the clinical training agreement for more information.
Confidentiality
During all SPEP rotations, students may have access to privileged information about patient health conditions, insurance information, and/or financial information. Students may also have access to privileged information about the financial or personnel management of the practice site. None of this information is ever to be discussed outside of the rotation site. Breaches in confidentiality may result in immediate dismissal from the practice site, a failed grade for the rotation, and/or dismissal from the program.
Compensation
Students may not receive nor request compensation of any type from any pharmacy practice site or preceptor for hours, projects, activities, or assignments related to any experiential rotation associated with QU CPh.
Concurrent Employment
Students may have to work during the P-1 to P-4 years; however, employment or paid internships outside of the SPEP program should not interfere with the attendance and performance on any SPEP rotations.
Medical Care
If necessary, each student is responsible for her medical care and/or treatment in case of illness or injury while at the practice site, including transportation. Refer to the site specific clinical training agreement for details.
Insurance and Licensure
Students that undertake rotations are covered by the insurance policies of QU in all matters related to health, accidents and malpractice. Any incident shall be investigated, reported and documented in accordance with the relevant rotation site policies and advised by the site to QU.
QU agrees to indemnify and save harmless the rotation site from all losses, costs, expenses, judgment of damage on account of injury or damage to persons or property, including death, in any way caused by the negligence or willful act of QU, its servants, agents, students or employees related to or arising from the academic programs or other related matters to which this agreement pertains, together with all legal costs and expenses incurred by the rotation site in defending any legal action pertaining to this clause.
Immunizations
Students are expected to have received all immunizations mandatory by the State of Qatar. All immunization certificates should be sent to the SPEP Coordinator prior to starting the SPEP 1 rotations. These records are saved under each student’s SPEP documentation records on eValue®. COVID19 vaccination records must also be submitted prior to starting the rotations.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Certification
SPEP students will be required to undertake Basic Life Support training before their SPEP 3-6 rotations.
Harassment Policy
Discriminatory harassment is prohibited at QU CPh and may also be illegal. QU CPh defines discriminatory harassment as: Conduct that conditions a person’s employment, enrollment as a student, or participation in QU CPh activities on that person’s age, citizenship, color, disability, gender (whether or not sexual in nature), national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status, unless otherwise permitted or required by applicable law.
Sexual Harassment
It is the express policy of QU CPh that its environment, including all campus locations and clinical facilities, be free from any form of sexual harassment. QU CPh strongly disapproves of any offensive or inappropriate sexual behavior at its facilities. All employees, faculty, staff and students must be aware that sexual harassment is not only a violation of University policy, but that sexual harassment is a violation of Qatar law, and will be dealt with accordingly. Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, including the following conditions: 1) Submission to the conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly as a term or condition of an individual’s employment; 2) Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting the individual; or 3) The conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the person’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. Conduct which violates the foregoing guidelines will not be tolerated by the University. The following list provides more information about sexual harassment including the most common complaints: 1) Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when any of the following conditions exist; i) Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s academic progress or achievement; ii) Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for decisions regarding academic achievement or progress affecting such individual, or iii) Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s academic progress or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive academic environment.
Harassment Procedure
Any student with a complaint or report of harassment, including sexual harassment, may file a complaint with the QU CPh detailing the circumstances of the alleged action. In the event that the Dean is unavailable (or is the subject of the complaint), the person having the complaint shall file her complaint with her immediate supervisor or the Assistant Dean, Faculty and Student Affairs. The complaint will be fully investigated and an opportunity will be afforded to all involved parties to fully state their positions to the investigator. Any student who becomes aware of possible sexual or other unlawful harassment must immediately advise the Dean so it can be investigated immediately and confidentially. Any aggrieved person can raise concerns and make reports without fear of reprisal or retaliation, except that false or malicious claims may be outside of the QU CPh’s review process.It is strongly recommended that the complaint of harassment be in writing. Any complaint of sexual harassment will be treated as confidentially as possible. It must be recognized, however, that thorough investigation of the complaint will necessarily result in some disclosures. When a student accusation involves an employee or someone serving as a preceptor for QU CPh, the Dean, after consultation with the SPEP Coordinator, will convene a may convene a Special Review Committee to investigate the complaint and make recommendations with regards to the resolution of the complaint to quickly and discreetly investigate all allegations of sexual harassment. The Special Review Committee shall consist of the following three members: i) a faculty member chosen by the grievant; ii) a faculty member chosen by the person(s) whose action is the subject of the grievance; iii) a faculty member elected by the faculty; and iv) the Dean. The Special Review Committee shall make its recommendations in writing to the grievant and the Dean. After a full and thorough investigation, the complaining party will be advised of the results of that investigation and any proposed action. Anyone engaging in sexual or other unlawful harassment, or any faculty member or administrator who fails to properly inform the College concerning such, will be subject to disciplinary action. This may include recorded written warnings and training or discharge of the person or persons involved in the violation.
Disability Policy
The QU CPh does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, religion, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation. Students with a disability that may have some impact on their ability to perform while on rotations and for which may require accommodations should contact the QU Student Services Department so that reasonable accommodations may be arranged.