Marianne McCollum

Team-Based Learning in US Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy

Objective. To characterize the use of team-based learning (TBL) in US colleges and schools of pharmacy, including factors that may affect implementation and perceptions of faculty members regarding the impact of TBL on educational outcomes. Methods. Respondents identified factors that inhibit or enable TBL use and its impact on student learning. Results were stratified by type of institution (public/private), class size, and TBL experience. Results. Sixty-nine of 100 faculty members (69%) representing 43 (86%) institutions responded. Major factors considered to enable TBL implementation included a single campus and student and administration buy-in. Inhibiting factors included distant campuses, faculty resistance, and lack of training. Compared with traditional lectures, TBL is perceived to enhance student engagement, improve students’ preparation for class, and promote achievement of course outcomes. In addition, TBL is perceived to be more effective than lectures at fostering learning in all 6 domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Conclusions. Despite potential implementation challenges, faculty members perceive that TBL improves student engagement and learning.

Further development of pharmacy student-facilitated diabetes management clinics.

Objective. To further develop and evaluate a diabetes disease state management (DSM) program that provided direct patient care responsibilities to advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) students as members of healthcare teams. Design. Nine new clinics and 3 established sites that provide self-care management education to patients with diabetes were established and maintained in rural Colorado pharmacies and supported by students in APPE training for 48 weeks per year. Evaluation. The 12 clinics provided 120 APPE student placements in 2010-2011. Students’ perceptions of their experiences were positive. Patients who completed the student-supported diabetes self-management education program had improvements in blood glucose, blood pressure, and lipid values. Conclusions. Twelve diabetes DSM clinics provided direct patient care opportunities to APPE students working as part of healthcare teams while expanding healthcare resources in underserved communities in Colorado.

A correlation study of social network usage among health care students.

BACKGROUNDnDue to anecdotal concerns about adequacy of health professions students communication skills, health professions faculty at a private university formed an interprofessional research team. The study was designed to explore whether the use of social networking services (SNS) influenced health care students written and oral communication skills.nnnMETHODnOne hundred thirty-two students participated in the study. Communication skills were assessed by using assignments from a health care ethics course required of all students. Use of SNS was measured with an information technology questionnaire.nnnRESULTSnContrary to expected findings, this exploratory correlation study found no meaningful relationship between the frequency of SNS usage and oral and written communication skills in health professions students.nnnCONCLUSIONSnFuture studies of SNS would benefit from a younger and more homogeneous study population to assess the use of SNS for learning versus leisure.