Precepting the Invisible Gap: Translating Poor Professionalism into Deficient Executive Skills

Hosted by the Experiential Education Section

Executive functioning skills are a foundational framework that includes the mental processes involved in organizing our time, how we hold and use information, adaptability to new situations, and focusing on tasks. The ability to manage these skills supports other necessary soft skills such as communication and emotional intelligence, which are key factors in managing and understanding each patient effectively.

In clinical environments, students face unique cognitive barriers that can be misinterpreted as a lack of engagement or professionalism. This action-oriented session equips pharmacy preceptors with objective, evidence-based coaching strategies to support diverse cognitive styles without lowering clinical standards. Participants will learn how to identify specific executive functioning gaps that may mimic a lack of professionalism and implement practical scaffolding tools to optimize rotation student performance.

Objectives:

• Differentiate between core clinical incompetence and underlying executive functioning challenges (e.g., working memory, time management, emotional regulation) in pharmacy learners.
• Analyze how traditional, ambiguous definitions of "professionalism" create unnecessary cognitive barriers during experiential rotations.
• Formulate explicit, structured communication tools, templates, and rotation schedules that clarify implicit clinical expectations.
• Implement actionable scaffolding techniques to assist students with high-stakes tasks.

Moderator:

Sharon Rush, RPh
Clinical Associate Professor
Community IPPE Coordinator
The University of Texas at Austin

Speakers:

Robin M. Zavod, Ph.D., FAPhA
Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Midwestern University