General practice-based undergraduate pharmacy longitudinal clerkship: a theoretically underpinned qualitative evaluation.

A Pharmacy Longitudinal Clerkship (PLC) was designed to develop student pharmacists'(SPs) competence in a general practice setting. The aim was to carry out a theoretically-underpinned qualitative evaluation of stakeholder perceptions regarding the influences of behavioural determinants on SP development for clinical practice in general practice. General practice-based PLCs were delivered in 2019/20 and 2020/21 for two cohorts of SPs in NHS Highland, Scotland. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used to explore stakeholder perceptions regarding the influences of behavioural determinants on SP development. Informed written consent was obtained. An interview schedule was developed and piloted using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic methodology. Ethics approval was granted. Seven SPs and five general practitioner (GP) tutors were interviewed. Key themes were identified and mapped to TDF domains, including: knowledge - utilisation and practical application of knowledge; skills - triangulation of skills under clinical supervision; beliefs about capabilities - confidence building with clinical and patient contact; professional role and identity - elucidation of professional roles within general practice. This evaluation shows benefits of embedding SPs within clinical teams and immersing them in a clinical environment over a prolonged period in a general practice PLC. It is expected this will translate into a more confident transition to postgraduate professional clinical practice. Funding should be sought to test alternative PLC arrangements including: multiple full-time longitudinal placement blocks; or ultimately a year-long longitudinal clerkship programme with an IPE element