ACCP’s novel pharmacy student team competition returns for its 11th season. The 2021 ACCP Clinical Pharmacy Challenge offers eligible teams the opportunity to compete in up to four online rounds, with the top eight teams advancing to the live quarterfinal competition on October 16–18 at the ACCP Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Team registration is now available online. Plan now to participate this fall.

Competition Overview

The ACCP Clinical Pharmacy Challenge is a team-based competition in which teams of three students compete with teams from other schools and colleges of pharmacy in a “quiz bowl”–type format. Only one team per institution can enter the competition. Institutions with branch campuses, distance satellites, and/or several interested teams are encouraged to conduct a local competition. ACCP provides a local competition exam that institutions may use in selecting their team. Faculty members interested in using the exam can send an email request to Michelle Kucera, Pharm.D., BCPS, at [email protected].

Preliminary rounds of the 2021 national competition will be conducted virtually in August and September. The quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds will be held live on October 16–18 at the ACCP Annual Meeting in Phoenix.

Each round consists of questions offered in the three distinct segments indicated below. Item content used in each segment has been developed and reviewed by an expert panel of clinical pharmacy practitioners and educators.

• Trivia/Lightning
• Clinical Case
• Jeopardy-style

Each 2021 team advancing to the quarterfinal round held at the ACCP Annual Meeting will receive three complimentary student full-meeting registrations. Each team member will receive an ACCP gift certificate for $125 and a certificate of recognition. In addition, semifinal teams not advancing to the final round will receive a semifinal team plaque for display at their institution. The second-place team will receive a $750 cash award ($250 to each member) and a commemorative team plaque. The winning team will receive a $1,500 cash award ($500 to each member), and each team member will receive a commemorative plaque. A team trophy will be awarded to the winning institution.

Students are not required to be members of ACCP to participate. Team registration may be submitted online and must be initiated by a current faculty member at the respective institution. Students interested in forming a team should contact their ACCP faculty liaison. If no ACCP faculty liaison has been identified, any faculty member from the institution may initiate the registration process. The registering faculty member must confirm the eligibility of all team members and/or alternates online before a team will be permitted to compete in the Clinical Pharmacy Challenge. The deadline to complete team registration and confirm eligibility for the 2021 competition is September 7, 2021.

For more information on the 2021 ACCP Clinical Pharmacy Challenge, including the competition schedule, sample items, and FAQ section, please click here.