Nicholas G. Popovich

A critical appraisal of and recommendations for faculty development.

The 2009-2010 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Council of Faculties Faculty Affairs Committee reviewed published literature assessing the scope and outcomes of faculty development for tenure and promotion. Relevant articles were identified via a PubMed search, review of pharmacy education journals, and identification of position papers from major healthcare professions academic organizations. While programs intended to enhance faculty development were described by some healthcare professions, relatively little specific to pharmacy has been published and none of the healthcare professions have adequately evaluated the impact of various faculty-development programs on associated outcomes. The paucity of published information strongly suggests a lack of outcomes-oriented faculty-development programs in colleges and schools of pharmacy. Substantial steps are required toward the development and scholarly evaluation of faculty-development programs. As these programs are developed and assessed, evaluations must encompass all faculty subgroups, including tenure- and nontenure track faculty members, volunteer faculty members, women, and underrepresented minorities. This paper proposes AACP, college and school, and department-level recommendations intended to ensure faculty success in achieving tenure and promotion.

Comparison of learning styles of pharmacy students and faculty members.

Objectives. To compare dominant learning styles of pharmacy students and faculty members and between faculty members in different tracks. Methods. Gregorc Style Delineator (GSD) and Zubin’s Pharmacists’ Inventory of Learning Styles (PILS) were administered to students and faculty members at an urban, Midwestern college of pharmacy. Results. Based on responses from 299 students (classes of 2008, 2009, and 2010) and 59 faculty members, GSD styles were concrete sequential (48%), abstract sequential (18%), abstract random (13%), concrete random (13%), and multimodal (8%). With PILS, dominant styles were assimilator (47%) and converger (30%). There were no significant differences between faculty members and student learning styles nor across pharmacy student class years (p>0.05). Learning styles differed between men and women across both instruments (p<0.01), and between faculty members in tenure and clinical tracks for the GSD styles (p=0.01). Conclusion. Learning styles differed among respondents based on gender and faculty track.

The Influence of Faculty Mentors on Junior Pharmacy Faculty Members’ Career Decisions

Objective. To assess junior faculty members’ perceptions regarding the impact of past faculty-mentoring relationships in their career decisions, including the decision to pursue postgraduate training and ultimately an academic career. Methods. A mixed-mode survey instrument was developed and an invitation to participate in the survey was sent to 2,634 pharmacy faculty members designated as assistant professors in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) directory data. Results. Usable responses were received from 1,059 pharmacy faculty members. Approximately 59% of respondents indicated that they had received encouragement from 1 or more faculty mentors that was very or extremely influential in their decision to pursue postgraduate training. Mentor and mentee pharmacy training characteristics and postgraduate training paths tended to be similar. US pharmacy degree earners rated the likelihood that they would have pursued an academic career without mentor encouragement significantly lower than did their foreign pharmacy and nonpharmacy degree colleagues (p = 0.006, p = 0.021, respectively). Conclusions. For the majority of junior pharmacy faculty members, faculty mentoring received prior to completing their doctor of pharmacy degree or nonpharmacy undergraduate degree influenced their subsequent career decisions.

The 4-year evolution of a social and behavioral pharmacy course

Objective. To evaluate the impact of 3 sequential course revisions on student performance in and perceived value of a social science-based course. Design. The initial revision emphasized study of the primary literature and traditional assessments of student learning. Subsequent course revisions emphasized active learning and reflective assessment methodologies. Assessment. The syllabi, grade distributions, and course evaluations were collected at baseline and after each revision and compared. Student performance in and their perceived value of the course declined after the initial course revision, but significantly improved after subsequent revisions with performance measures returning to baseline. Conclusion. Positioning social science-based courses as a bridge to practice while using active-learning techniques to deliver content had a positive impact on students’ perceived value of this Social and Behavioral Pharmacy course without compromising performance measures.

An Instrument to Evaluate Pharmacists’ Patient Counseling on Herbal and Dietary Supplements

Objective. To develop a measure of pharmacists’ patient counseling on herbal and dietary supplements. Methods. A systematic process was used for item generation, testing, and validation of a measure of pharmacists counseling on herbal and dietary supplements. Because a pharmacist-patient encounter may or may not identify an indication for taking an herb or dietary supplement, the instrument was bifurcated into 2 distinct components: (1) patient counseling in general; and (2) patient counseling related to herbal and dietary supplements. Results. The instrument demonstrated high reliability and desirable construct validity. After adjusting for item difficulty, we found that pharmacists tended to provide more general patient counseling than counseling related to herbal and dietary supplements. Conclusion. This instrument can be applied to assess the quality of counseling provided by pharmacists and pharmacy students, and the outcomes of pharmacist and pharmacy student education on herbal and dietary supplements.

Assessing Students’ Impressions of the Cultural Awareness of Pharmacy Faculty and Students

Objective. To determine pharmacy students’ impressions of their faculty’s interactions with diverse student and patient populations. Methods. Three student focus groups were convened. Eighty-four page transcripts were coded, and emergent themes were identified by qualitative analysis. Results. Students defined diversity as multidimensional beyond traditional categories. Emergent themes were faculty awareness or lack of awareness of cultural diversity, disparate cultural perspectives and preferences within student groups, teaching/learning approaches to prepare students to be more culturally competent, and student group dynamics. First- and second-year students emphasized student-to-student interactions, while third- and fourth-year students emphasized a lack of preparation for the realities of contemporary practice based on instructional methods. Conclusion. Students perceived the majority of their pharmacy faculty to be culturally sensitive and aware, but microaggression and discrimination from faculty and student peers were experienced. Study implications can potentially improve curricular offerings, cultural awareness of faculty and students, and care to diverse patient populations.