Judith Burrows

Antibiotic desensitization in adults with cystic fibrosis.

Objective:  Allergic reactions to antibiotics occur in up to 30% of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Repeated antibiotic exposure and immune hyper‐responsiveness increase the risk of allergic reactions and may limit antibiotic choice. Desensitization may allow the successful administration of an antibiotic despite previous allergy. We aimed to determine the success of antibiotic desensitization in patients with CF in an adult CF unit over a 7‐year period.

Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use by adults with cystic fibrosis

Background: Limited data are available about the extent of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in people with cystic fibrosis (CF).

Polypharmacy, deprescribing and shared decision-making in primary care: the role of the accredited pharmacist

1 Centre of Research Excellence in Quality & Safety in Integrated Primary-Secondary Care, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 2 Charming Institute, Brisbane, Australia 3 School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 4 Director, Drug and Therapeutic Information Service, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, Australia 5 Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Australia 6 School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 7 DR Pharmacy Consulting, Brisbane, Australia

Certainty rating in pre-and post-tests of study modules in an online clinical pharmacy course - A pilot study to evaluate teaching and learning

BackgroundGraduate and post-graduate education for health professionals is increasingly delivered in an e-learning environment, where automated, continuous formative testing with integrated feedback can guide students’ self-assessment and learning. Asking students to rate the certainty they assign to the correctness of their answers to test questions can potentially provide deeper insights into the success of teaching, with test results informing course designers whether learning outcomes have been achieved. It may also have implications for decision making in clinical practice.MethodsA study of pre-and post-tests for five study modules was designed to evaluate the teaching and learning within a pharmacotherapeutic course in an online postgraduate clinical pharmacy program. Certainty based marking of multiple choice questions (MCQ) was adapted for formative pre- and post-study module testing by asking students to rate their certainty of correctness of MCQ answers. Paired t-tests and a coding scheme were used to analyse changes in answers and certainty between pre-and post-tests. A survey evaluated students’ experience with the novel formative testing design.ResultsTwenty-nine pharmacists enrolled in the postgraduate program participated in the study. Overall 1315 matched pairs of MCQ answers and certainty ratings between pre- and post-module tests were available for evaluation. Most students identified correct answers in post-tests and increased their certainty compared to pre-tests. Evaluation of certainty ratings in addition to correctness of answers identified MCQs and topic areas for revision to course designers. A survey of students showed that assigning certainty ratings to their answers assisted in structuring and focusing their learning throughout online study modules, facilitating identification of areas of uncertainty and gaps in their clinical knowledge.ConclusionsAdding certainty ratings to MCQ answers seems to engage students with formative testing and feedback and focus their learning in a web-based postgraduate pharmacy course. It also offers deeper insight into the successful delivery of online course content, identifying areas for improvement of teaching and content delivery as well as test question design.

An evaluation of the utilisation of the Medication Action Plan form in a tertiary hospital: what is the impact of the pharmacist?

The Medication Action Plan (MAP) form was introduced in Queensland Health to communicate accurate medication histories and interventions between pharmacists and other clinicians. Concerns have been raised about the utilisation of this form at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH).