Using the CAPE Outcomes in the Admissions Interview

To take a holistic approach, the Admissions Committee at the Nova Southeastern University College of Pharmacy decided to use the 2013 Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) outcomes as a framework in the admissions interview. The 15 CAPE outcomes describe the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students should have upon graduation and 13 were chosen for the admissions interview: caregiver, manager, promoter, problem solver, educator, advocate, collaborator, includer, communicator, self-aware, leader, innovator, and professional. These outcomes were called 'roles' in our admissions process. During the interview, open-ended questions were created to be used by two faculty interviewers to ascertain whether the interviewee had experienced specific roles during their undergraduate years and the attitude developed as they played the role. The same experience could be used to assess more than one role (e.g., pharmacy technician experience used to assess leader, manager, and collaborator roles). The approach taken by the interviewee in each role was rated by the individual interviewers as being either poor, marginal, adequate, good, or superior. Once the interviewee left the room, the interviewers were encouraged to discuss their assessments, however, each provided an independent evaluation to the Admissions Committee. At least 9 roles should be rated as adequate, good or superior to be deemed acceptable. Along with traditional admissions metrics, total interview assessments including the roles, pharmacy profession knowledge and overall interview performance were used to determine admission status in the program. A qualitative and quantitative evaluation of this new interview format will be conducted.