Mitra Assemi

Development Needs of Volunteer Pharmacy Practice Preceptors

Objective. To determine the training needs and interests of volunteer pharmacy preceptors. Methods. Volunteer preceptors (n=576) were surveyed on various aspects of precepting and their needs related to additional training. Results. Two hundred thirty-six preceptors (40.9%) responded. Preceptors were less confident about enforcing attendance policies, identifying and managing unmotivated or failing students, identifying dishonesty or plagiarism, and handling conflict. While only 29.5% of respondents agreed that having an APPE student decreased their overall workload, approximately half (48.1%) indicated that student pharmacists helped them complete their daily tasks and 67.8% agreed that APPE students extended patient care. Respondents who had received training were significantly more confident than preceptors who had not received training in their abilities to clarify expectations, evaluate a students knowledge, and foster skills related to critical thinking and problem solving. Conclusions. Training programs for pharmacy preceptors are effective; however, important areas in which additional training is needed or desired were identified among both new and experienced preceptors.

What Women Want to Know: An Assessment of Online Questions Asked by Women Using an Ask-the-Pharmacist Service

Background: Almost three-quarters of American adults use the Internet. Eighty percent of these adults use online health information resources. Ask-the-Pharmacist (ATP) services provide individualized clinical information to online consumers. Objective: To characterize the content of online queries submitted by or on behalf of women to an ATP service. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of online queries submitted to the Blue Shield of California ATP service between 2003 and 2004. Questions were characterized and analyzed using Analysis ToolPak package and SPSS software (version 12). Results: A total of 1,056 submitted queries were analyzed. The mean age of female consumers was 45.6 years (range 18–88). Thirty-three percent inquired about drug adverse effects; of these, 19% reported experiencing acute adverse reactions. Drug efficacy or indications were the subject of 26% of queries. The most common drug-related queries were about antidepressants (8.6%) and contraceptives (8.2%), with a majority interested in the adverse effects of these drug classes. Over-the-counter products accounted for 4.9% of the queries. Contraception and dermatology were the most frequent indications listed for women aged 18–35 years; for women over the age of 50 years, menopause was the most frequent indication. Conclusions: The questions asked regarding the health of female consumers reflect the fact that consumers need more information to make treatment decisions. Women want to know the differences in drug efficacy and adverse effects among different medications. Healthcare providers should be aware of these issues to better anticipate womens healthcare needs. In addition, this information may help health plans to develop specific materials targeted toward these issues.

Scholarly Contributions of Required Senior Research Projects in a Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum

Objective. To determine dissemination outcomes and faculty perceptions of senior research projects conducted from 2008 to 2011 by PharmD students in a curricular pathway focused on direct patient care. Methods. Preceptors’ reported dissemination outcomes of research projects were surveyed and their perceptions of the precepting experience were rated using a web-based survey. Results were compared to those from an earlier pharmaceutical care cohort (2002-2007) and a combined cohort of 2, more research-intensive curricular pathways at the school. Results. The overall response rate was 90.2%. Project dissemination included 61.3% at an institutional forum, 42.3% as a submitted publication, 37.8% as a poster, and 4.5% as an oral presentation. Projects completed from 2008-2011 were significantly more likely than those from 2002-2007 to be submitted for publication (42.3% vs 10.7%, p<0.001) and published (28.8% vs 5.3%, p<0.001). Most preceptors found their research projects valuable to them professionally (88.3%) and to their own or another institution (83.5% and 78.5%, respectively). Ninety-five percent of preceptors would precept again. Conclusion. Dissemination rates for pharmaceutical care projects increased over time. Despite modest dissemination levels, the majority of preceptors agreed that required student research projects provide a valuable learning experience for students.

National Survey of Volunteer Pharmacy Preceptors: effects of region, practice setting, and population density on responses.

Objectives: To survey volunteer pharmacy preceptors regarding experiential education and determine whether differences in responses relate to such factors as geographic region, practice setting, and population density. Methods: An online survey was sent to 4396 volunteer experiential preceptors. The survey consisted of 41 questions asking the preceptor to comment on the experiential education environment. Experiential education administrators from 9 schools of pharmacy administered the survey to their volunteer preceptors in all regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) of the United States, in various pharmacy practice settings, and areas of differing population densities. Results: A total of 1163 (26.5%) preceptors responded. Regionally, preceptors in the West disagreed more than those in the Midwest and the South that they had enough time to spend with students to provide a quality experience and also required compensation less often than their counterparts in the Northeast and South. Concerning practice settings, hospital preceptors accepted students from more schools, had greater increases in requests, turned away more students, and spent less time with the students compared to preceptors in other settings. Population density differences reflected that preceptors at urban sites took and turned away more students than those at rural sites. Preceptors from rural areas spent more time with students and felt they were spending enough time with their students to provide quality experiences when compared to other preceptors. Conclusions: The results of this national volunteer preceptor survey may assist pharmacy school leaders in understanding how location, practice type, and population density affect experiential education, preceptor time-quality issues, and site compensation so they can take necessary actions to improve quality of student practice experiences.

Educational Background and Academic Rank of Faculty Members within US Schools of Pharmacy

Objective. To characterize the educational background and academic rank of faculty members in US schools of pharmacy, estimate the extent to which they are employed by institutions where they received previous training, and determine whether differences in degree origin and rank exist between faculty members in established (≤1995) vs newer programs. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted using the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) faculty database and demographic information from the public domain. Results. Among 5516 faculty members, 50.3% held two or more types of degrees. Established schools had a higher median number of faculty members and a higher mean faculty rank than did newer schools. Conclusion. The difference in mean faculty rank highlights the shortage of experienced faculty members in newer schools. Future research efforts should investigate educational attainment in correlation to other faculty and school characteristics and prospectively track and report trends related to pharmacy faculty members composition.