Professional Identity Formation

Professional Identity Formation (PIF) is the development of professional values, actions, and aspirations. Three key components help develop the formation of your Professional Identity:

• Thinking – acquiring knowledge

• Acting – exhibiting professionalism

• Feeling – the sense of belonging and being part of the profession

Various stages occur when developing one’s professional identity. The first stages are centered on personal identity. Next, personal identity is honed, formed, and combined with professional identity.

Knowingly or unknowingly, preceptors and sites model positive and negative PIF for learners. Here are a few suggestions for preceptors to intentionally incorporate productive PIF into IPPE and APPE rotations:

• IPPEs

  • Shadowing experiences ‒ especially in new or unique practice settings.

  • Challenge students with questions to:

    • Push students out of their comfort zone

    • Create and present a patient’s care plan

    • Discuss career plans and goals

• APPEs

  • Provide supervised autonomy by allowing students to “be the pharmacist.”

  • Facilitate reflection in the moment:

    • Formative feedback for areas of improvement

    • Formative feedback for validation of strengths

For other ways to incorporate PIF into your rotation, think about activities for IPPE or APPE students to complete.

• Do these intentionally incorporate PIF development?

• Are there ways to tweak the activities to integrate PIF growth?

• What other activities could be used to help the student feel like a pharmacist?

Preceptors play a pivotal role in shaping learners’ professional identity when PIF-focused activities are incorporated into the rotation. Shadowing, questioning, challenging, and promoting autonomy foster growth in both competence and confidence, ultimately shaping learners into capable and empathetic pharmacists.