2026 Experiential Education Institute
April 15-17, 2026
10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST
Virtual Meeting
Target Audience
AACP encourages any faculty, staff, or administrators who play a key role in experiential education to attend this Institute including: Experiential Education (EE) staff who coordinate and support rotations; EE faculty involved in teaching, precepting, or overseeing experiential programs; administrators and academic leaders responsible for EE programs or student outcomes; faculty and staff in EE-adjacent areas (e.g., skills labs, student services, academic affairs).
Agenda
The Institute agenda can be accessed here.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. ET
The Power of Connection: Why Relationships Matter More Than Ever in EE
Learning Objectives
At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Describe how faculty-student relationships influence pharmacy student well-being, engagement, and academic success using current higher education and pharmacy-specific research.
- Apply at least one practical strategy to communicate care, increase student sense of mattering, and support growth.
- Describe the impact of site and preceptor relationships on the quality of the experiential program.
- Discuss the connection between preceptor development and preceptor relationship building.
0581-0000-26-023-L99-P, Application-based, 1.0 Contact Hour
Speakers: Brooke L. Griffin, PharmD, BCACP, Professor and Vice Chair of Pharmacy Practice, Midwestern University College of Pharmacy & Professional Coach in Life & Work; Suzanne Larson, Pharm.D., Director of Experiential Education, Midwestern University College of Pharmacy Glendale AZ Campus
11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. ET
Lightning Rounds: Innovative Approaches to Connection
Learning Objectives
At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Describe how an early rotation check in process can help students and meet accreditation standards.
- Identify strategies for incorporating additional IPPE models beyond required rotations to support clinical skill development, population health initiatives, and evolving practice needs.
- Describe the use of the Habits of Preceptors Framework as a continuing professional development tool.
- Describe domains and parameters used in an APPE readiness dashboard.
- Describe how a data dashboard platform can be used to organize and visualize experiential education workflows, such as project tracking or preceptor site visit management.
0581-0000-26-024-L99-P, Knowledge-based, 1.00 Contact Hour
Speakers: Carinda J. Feild, Pharm.D., FCCM, Associate Director of Experiential Programs, Lead Regional Coordinator & Clinical Professor, University of Florida; Megan G. Smith, Pharm.D., BCACP, Associate Professor, UAMS College of Pharmacy; Lena McDowell, Pharm.D., Associate Clinical Professor, IPPE Coordinator, Auburn University Harrison College of Pharmacy; Erin Raney, Pharm.D., BCPS, Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Midwestern University College of Pharmacy, Glendale Campus; Shane Tolleson, Pharm.D., PNAP, University of Houston College of Pharmacy
Thursday, April 16th, 2026
10:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. ET
From Insight to Action: Optimizing your EE Office
Learning Objectives
At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Identify existing data sources within their EE office that can be leveraged to support smarter more efficient decisions.
- Distinguish between “nice-to-have” metrics and meaningful data that directly inform action and improvement.
- Apply practical approaches to using data for decision-making in settings with limited time, staffing, or analytic support.
- Translate commonly available metrics into actionable insights that drive practice improvement or operational change.
- Describe approaches to optimize experiential education (EE) data to enhance learner support and outcomes.
- Apply principles of data driven storytelling to communicate the impact and value of EE to internal and external program partners
0581-0000-26-025-L99-P, Application-based, 1.50 Contact Hours
Speakers: Lisa Meny, Pharm.D., Professor, Accreditation and Assessment Coordinator, Ferris State University College of Pharmacy; Mabel Truong, Pharm.D., BCPS, Clinical Assistant Professor, Director of Institutional APPES, University of Houston College of Pharmacy
11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. ET
Lightning Rounds: Practical Strategies for Everyday EE Workload Challenge
Learning Objectives
At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Evaluate how utilizing Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and student reflection on poor experiential outcomes and improve future performances.
- Design an onboarding model that aligns experiential compliance requirements with curricular competencies to enhance student readiness and program efficiency.
- Recognize how recent ADA Title II updates may be relevant to pharmacy experiential education offices
- Examine potential uses for project management tools, like MS Planner, for seasonal experiential office tasks
- Identify strategies for improving efficiency in experiential education offices through outsourcing, automation, and task batching.
0581-0000-26-026-L99-P, Application-based, 1.00 Contact Hour
Speakers: Katelyn Alexander, Pharm.D., Director of Experiential Education and Associate Professor, East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy; Seth Heldenbrand, Pharm.D., Professor, Associate Dean of Experiential Education, UAMS College of Pharmacy; Carolynn Komanski, Ph.D., Director, University of Florida College of Pharmacy; Kate Newman, Pharm.D., Director of Experiential Education, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville – School of Pharmacy; Janel Soucie, Pharm.D., Instructional Associate Professor, Office of Experiential Programs Regional Coordinator & Disability Resource Center Liaison, University of Florida College of Pharmacy
1:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. ET
Stronger Together: Optimizing Office Connection
Learning Objectives
At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Describe common challenges and opportunities associated with developing connection and trust within experiential education teams.
- List practical strategies to build trust, engagement, and shared identity across locations.
- Develop at least one action item for strengthening team connection.
0581-0000-26-028-L99-P, Application-based, 0.50 Contact Hour
Speakers: Janet Cooley, Pharm.D., BCACP, Director of Experiential Education and Associate Professor, The University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy; Beth Zerr, Pharm.D., BCACP, Associate Clinical Faculty, University of Arizona
Friday, April 17th, 2026
10:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. ET
Now What? From Inspiration to Action
Learning Objectives
At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Describe the difference between urgent work and strategically important work and how misalignment between the two contributes to inefficiencies and professional burnout.
- Summarize at least two practical approaches for prioritizing effectively when faced with competing demands.
0581-0000-26-029-L99-P, Knowledge-based, 0.50 Contact Hour
Speaker: Craig Cox, Pharm.D., Professor & Regional Dean, Texas Tech University HSC Jerry H Hodge School of Pharmacy
10:45 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. ET
Lightning Rounds: Prioritizing and Implementing Great Ideas
Learning Objectives
At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Utilize the Working Genius model to increase productivity and efficiency.
- Identify three practical strategies for planning office retreats for experiential education teams, including retreat timing, agenda development, and simple team-building activities.
0581-0000-26-030-L99-P, Application-based, 0.50 Contact Hour
Speakers: Stacy Reid, Pharm.D., BCPS, Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy; Heather DeMar, MSOL, Director of Experiential Education, Western New England University, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
AACP is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. Select sessions delivered during the Institute are eligible for continuing education credit. Pharmacists may obtain up to 6.00 CPE credit upon successful completion of all CPE requirements.
Information on how to obtain continuing education credit
To obtain CPE credit, pharmacists must attend the live accredited continuing education activities, complete the activity assessments with a passing score of 75% or higher, and submit the CE session evaluations via AACP Learn. Attendees will have 45 days following the Institute to complete the assessments and evaluations. Access to the session activity evaluations and assessments in AACP Learn will be denied after Monday, June 1, 2026, 11:59 pm ET.
CPE credit information will be electronically transmitted to CPE Monitor. Pharmacists should log in to their NABP e-profile to access information about their completed CPE and to print a valid statement of credit if needed.
Note: It is imperative that pharmacist attendees’ NABP e-Profile ID and birthdate (in MM/DD format) are correctly entered in their profile and correspond with their NABP record. Failure to ensure this information is identical in both programs will jeopardize their earning CPE credits.
If you have questions regarding CE before or after the Institute, please contact: cpd@aacp.org.
Hardware/Software Requirements
The Institute is being conducted through Zoom on the AACP Learn platform. Access to Zoom is necessary to participate in the live sessions. Participants will need a modern web browser such as the most recent 2 versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Edge; Internet connection with 1 Mbps or better; a minimum of 2GB of RAM; speakers/headphones for audio capability; and Adobe Reader to open select pdf files. For detailed information, please visit Zoom system requirements for Windows, macOS, Linux.
Privacy Policy
AACP’s Privacy Policy can be accessed here. Participants may view Zoom’s policy here.
Fees
The early-bird registration fee for the Institute is $299 per person. There is no additional fee for continuing education credit.
Sponsors
No financial support was identified for any component of the accredited continuing education activities.