Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning最新文献

Background and purpose

To describe student pharmacist's application of the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP) during participation in an interprofessional introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) at a Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) pediatric summer camp.

Educational activity and setting

Student pharmacists entering professional year two (P2) and three (P3) attended a one-week, overnight T1D summer camp as part of the longitudinal IPPE curriculum between June 2021 and July 2023. They completed two PPCP assignments, a reflective assignment and a self-evaluation following the experience.

Findings

Thirty-seven students attended camp. The most common PPCP assignments submitted corresponded to the collaborate core competency (75.6%) and the implement (51.4%) and collect (27.0%) steps. Written reflections revealed students learned about therapeutic monitoring of diabetes, hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia management, insulin dose adjustment, and lifestyle strategies such as carbohydrate counting. Many students expressed feeling increased empathy (59.5%) and inspiration (56.8%) toward individuals with T1D. Students reflected positively on their experience working with an interprofessional team. Self-evaluations indicated perceived competency in all steps and core areas of the PPCP, especially in communication.

Discussion

Overall, student feedback indicates inclusion of camp as a non-traditional pharmacy practice site provides ample opportunity to apply the PPCP through participation and interprofessional decision-making opportunities in patient care. Our findings demonstrate camp provided the ability to partake in activities that encompass every step and core component of the PPCP. Immersion in the camp environment allowed early learners to feel competent in their ability to engage in the PPCP and communicate with patients and healthcare professionals.

Summary

Participation in a T1D summer camp provided early student pharmacists exposure to direct patient care and opportunity to apply the PPCP in an interprofessional education environment. Students learned clinical diabetes knowledge and skills, in addition to increased empathy and a feeling of inspiration. Students felt highly competent in their ability to communicate with patients, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers.

Introduction: Academic dishonesty is prevalent across pharmacy education. Understanding student perceptions and engagement in academically dishonest behaviors across skills activities is important, as skills curricula are essential components in assessing APPE readiness. The objectives of this study were to assess pharmacy student perceptions of academically dishonest behavior within a skills curriculum and to determine if correlations exist between students' perceived wrongness of a described behavior and their willingness to engage in the behavior or past engagement in that described behavior.

Methods: Students within a Doctor of Pharmacy program were asked to respond to an anonymous, electronic survey. The survey described 18 specific academically dishonest student behaviors across 12 skills scenarios. For each behavior, students were asked to indicate their perception of the wrongness of the behavior, their willingness to engage in the behavior, and if they had engaged in the behavior in the past. Descriptive statistics were completed to assess responses. Fisher analysis was used to compare “yes” responses to “no/not sure” responses for each question.

Results: Students indicated general agreement that most described behaviors were wrong. There was <50% agreement in the wrongness of behaviors that described failing to report another student's academically dishonest behavior. Generally, students who agreed that a particular behavior was wrong were less likely to report willingness to engage in the behavior or past engagement in the behavior.

Discussion: Generally, students in our cohort agreed that the presented actions across multiple skills activities were wrong, with less agreement regarding turning classmates in for academic dishonesty. Relatively small percentages of students responded that they had engaged in these activities in the past.

Conclusions: Understanding these perceptions, as well as students' willingness to engage in academic dishonesty, can guide instructors in communicating expectations regarding academic integrity within the skills curriculum.

Background and purpose

Personal and professional development (PPD) is an essential focus of pharmacy school curriculum in developing future pharmacists. This manuscript describes the creation, implementation, and data collection of a PPD Activity Tracker in a pharmacy curriculum.

Educational activity and setting

Previously, in “Standards 2016” and currently in “Standards 2025”, colleges of pharmacy are tasked with documenting how students achieve PPD throughout their academic careers. Therefore, the PPD course directors developed a PPD Activities Tracker to provide student pharmacists a central location to document curriculum and co-curricular activities as they matriculate through the pharmacy program. The tracker was created using an electronic survey platform. Eleven activity categories were established, and students noted whether the activity was directed toward personal and/or professional development. The purpose of the tracker was to create a repository for student documentation of their PPD-promoting experiences and to provide a mechanism for individual and cohort reporting for assessment and accreditation.

Findings

Student pharmacists from two class cohorts entered 3254 PPD activities into the tracker over a two-year period. All PPD categories were tracked with the highest attended activities, including personal development & self-care (19%) and self-reflection (19%); the next highest category was interprofessional education/collaboration (15%). Students noted that most PPD activities enhanced their personal and professional development (49%), while personal development only and professional development only were 31% and 19%, respectively. The students “highly recommended” (72%) most tracked PPD activities, while 26% of activities were “recommended.” Individual student and class cohort data were also readily accessible.

Summary

The PPD tracker created a central, easily accessible, and organized storehouse for successfully collecting curricular and co-curricular PPD activities throughout the student pharmacist's career. The data from this tracker could easily be collected and sorted individually as a class cohort or for an individual student pharmacist.

The community pharmacist may be challenged by their dual role of being both a health care provider and practice manager. This commentary proposes strategies to address the barriers to the management role of the community pharmacist in practice as perceived by stakeholders: pharmacist owners, pharmacist managers, pharmacists, and pharmacy students. Whilst some community pharmacist owners may believe managerial skills are not required for the profession, all stakeholders for the most part agree on the barriers to the management role of the community pharmacist in practice and the strategies to address these barriers. Three barriers were identified: business versus professional dichotomy, transitioning theoretical learned content into a practice setting, and professional overload. Three strategies are proposed to overcome these barriers: developing a dual thinking process, learning practice management from mentors, and the philosophy of becoming a leader and the team builder. A paradigm shift within the current culture in the profession may be required to overcome the barriers. This commentary also highlights the need to explore leadership in community pharmacy.

Purpose

Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) are a valuable assessment within healthcare education, as they provide the opportunity for students to demonstrate clinical competency, but can be resource intensive to provide faculty graders. The purpose of this study was to determine how overall OSCE scores compared between faculty, peer, and self-evaluations within a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum.

Methods

This study was conducted during the required nonprescription therapeutics course. Seventy-seven first-year PharmD students were included in the study, with 6 faculty members grading 10–15 students each. Students were evaluated by 3 graders: self, peer, and faculty. All evaluators utilized the same rubric. The primary endpoint of the study was to compare the overall scores between groups. Secondary endpoints included interrater reliability and quantification of feedback type based on the evaluator group.

Results

The maximum possible score for the OSCE was 50 points; the mean scores for self, peer, and faculty evaluations were 43.3, 43.5, and 41.7 points, respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between the self and peer raters. However, statistical significance was found in the comparison of self versus faculty (p = 0.005) and in peer versus faculty (p < 0.001). When these scores were correlated to a letter grade (A, B, C or less), higher grades had greater similarity among raters compared to lower scores. Despite differences in scoring, the interrater reliability, or W score, on overall letter grade was 0.79, which is considered strong agreement.

Conclusions

This study successfully demonstrated how peer and self-evaluation of an OSCE provides a comparable alternative to traditional faculty grading, especially in higher performing students. However, due to differences in overall grades, this strategy should be reserved for low-stakes assessments and basic skill evaluations.

Background and purpose

Formulary systems play a crucial role in healthcare organizations by promoting collaboration and ensuring the rational and cost-effective utilization of medications. With a rise in pharmacist involvement in hospital formulary management, this study aims to describe the components of an online formulary exercise, assess fifth-year students' perceptions of this exercise, and evaluate its effectiveness in understanding formulary management and the pharmacist’s role.

Educational activity and setting

The online formulary exercise was initiated during hospital practice training at Kitasato University Hospital since October 2021. Students underwent reading assignments and a pre-test before participating in the program. The one-day program included a pre-practice test, 1.5 h of pre-recorded video lectures, 2.5 h of two small group discussions, a 1-h individual assignment creating a proton pump inhibitor comparison chart, 30 min of group presentations, and feedback from clinical faculty. Post-program assessments comprised a test, evaluations, and surveys on difficulty, necessity, and impressions. Analysis involved descriptive methods and thematic analysis for free-form responses, and a Friedman test for test scores.

Findings

The surveys conducted between July 2022 and February 2023 were compiled and analyzed. This study assessed the impact of an online formulary exercise program on 100 participants, revealing an improvement in formulary understanding (97%) and a high recommendation rate (92%). Test performance demonstrated an improvement (p < 0.05, r = 0.85), with students recognizing the importance of contributing to the reduction of healthcare costs. The program positively influenced students' formulary knowledge and readiness for pharmacist roles.

Summary

This online formulary exercise provided a valuable opportunity for students to learn about formulary management. The use of survey results and test scores demonstrated the positive impact of both pre-assignments and exercise on students' comprehension of formulary, enhancing not only their understanding but also fostering a sense of responsibility as future pharmacists.

This article is based on pharmacy students using technology in collaborative learning and offers insights for tutors conducting clinical case study discussions. Reflection revealed that collaborative learning, fostering active interaction and asymmetrical roles, positively impacted student engagement. It proved beneficial when the goal was to enhance learners' engagement in a shared task with mutual accountability. Tutors are also encouraged to view teaching as a means of developing students' learning abilities rather than information transmission. This article emphasised the significance of technology, particularly Padlet, in this process, identified by students as an enabler of learning. Suggestions for future development include exploring variables affecting collaborative learning and understanding technology's role in supporting this method. Overall, this reflective work provided valuable guidance for tutors seeking to optimise collaborative learning experiences in case study discussions.

Background and purpose

The objective of this project was to assess the impact of self-care scenario simulations on first year doctor of pharmacy student performance and self-perceived confidence in applying the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP) during self-care encounters.

Educational activity and settings

Self-care scenarios were developed and used during low fidelity simulations in laboratory sessions in a skills-based course. Students met individually with faculty facilitators role-playing patients to apply the PPCP in four simulations. Facilitators graded student performance; a comparison was made between performance on the first and fourth simulation. Students completed a pre- and post-course survey regarding their self-perceived confidence in performance and knowledge in applying the PPCP in self-care encounters.

Findings

One hundred and eight (100%) of enrolled students voluntarily agreed to participate in this IRB-approved study. The median percentage of student scores on the fourth simulation, 90.7%, was higher compared to the median percentage of student scores on the first simulation, 82.4%, P < 0.001 with a raw difference of 8.3 percentage points, for participants with scores for both simulations, 106 (98%). For the self-perceived PPCP confidence survey, 100 (92.5%) participants completed both pre- and post-course surveys. Self-perceived confidence on 12 of the 15 survey items where students ranked their confidence in performance and knowledge in self-care encounters increased post- versus pre-course.

Summary

Simulations served as a useful tool in improving student performance in applying the PPCP in self-care encounters in a first year doctor of pharmacy course. Student self-perceived confidence in performance and knowledge in self-care encounters also increased.

Introduction

Burnout is a common issue that impacts students across professional programs, where symptoms such as loneliness and isolation lead to a decrease in student and faculty success. The primary tactic utilized to combat burnout in pharmacists has been an emphasis on wellbeing strategies.

Commentary

Psychological safety is an important cultural dynamic that allows individuals to feel included, supported, and heard. This is particularly important as developing a professional setting of inclusivity and safety is associated with reducing the impact of psychosocial stressors on an individual outside of their professional setting. However, psychological safety has not yet been explored as a means to combat burnout in pharmacy education.

Implications

Making space for inclusion, learning, contribution, and challenge in pharmacy education curriculums is necessary to create psychologically safe learning environments, which thereby increases feelings of belonging and community among students and faculty and subsequently reduces feelings of isolation and burnout. A commitment from administrators, faculty, and preceptors is necessary to encourage egalitarian dialogue and imagine a more dynamic, collegial relationship among students and faculty. Ultimately, this commitment communicates to students that they are valued as human beings, respected as individuals, and empowered as future healthcare providers well before they are asked to rise to the role of pharmacist.

Introduction

While pharmacy programs, standards, and students have changed over time, caring for our students continues to be of the utmost importance. We are interested in learning how colleges and schools of pharmacy are meeting these needs. Therefore, our objective was to characterize the roles and responsibilities of student affairs professionals associated with colleges/schools of pharmacy.

Methods

All ACPE colleges/schools of pharmacy in the United States were contacted by email to identify the student affairs lead for the institution who was then sent a Qualtrics survey via email. The survey asked for college/school demographics and details of the number and responsibilities of student affairs faculty and staff. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the results.

Results

The survey was sent to a total of 134 individuals and 78 survey responses were received after removing duplicate responses. Responding college/schools were similar in type (49% public, 51% private), size (59% entering cohort of <80 students compared to 55% nationally), and length of program (65% with program at least 4 years) compared to all accredited colleges/schools of pharmacy. The greatest number of programs had between one and three full-time equivalent (FTE) positions (39%) with between three and five FTEs close behind (31%). The team make up that occurred most frequently (N = 20) was zero to one FTE Dean/Associate/Assistant Dean and at least two non-faculty professional staff. Organizing student orientation, planning events such as hooding and white coat ceremonies, overseeing student organizations, and overseeing student wellbeing programs and student recruitment were most frequently reported to be responsibilities of student affairs offices.

Discussion

Overall, our findings show that the most common student affairs offices are comprised of one Dean/Associate Dean/Assistant Dean and at least two non-faculty professional staff. A limitation of our investigation was the omission of a requirement for respondents to complete the college/school field in the survey.

Conclusions

The number and types of FTE positions devoted to student affairs and titles and responsibilities differed greatly among the responding colleges/schools.