Ruth E. Nemire

Intellectual Property Development and Use for Distance Education Courses: A Review of Law, Organizations, and Resources for Faculty

Advancement of knowledge and progress in technology drives the need for protecting inventions, new ideas, writings, music, and other media. While abundant, intellectual property and copyright issues are not simple, and the United States has adopted multiple rules via treaties worldwide. Academia has been fortunate with regard to the freedom provided by the fair use doctrine. Despite the freedoms, however, some feel that liberty is now limited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) and other rules being placed on intellectual property use (Carlson 2004).

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.

Defining Moments – Gaining Momentum for Quality Professional Experiential Education: 2005–06 AACP PEPSIG Report, July 10, 2007

The 2005-06 year for the Professional Experience Programs Special Interest Group (PEPSIG) has been memorable, significant, and effective for individual members, schools and colleges, and experiential education as a whole. Challenges came from planned projects and unplanned circumstances; all were met with sincere dedication to improve experiential education and to assist experiential personnel on personal and professional levels. In particular, PEPSIG members offered support to Ronnie Allen (Xavier University of Louisiana) following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina by arranging experiential rotations for displaced students. By October 24, 2005, it was welcome news when Ronnie wrote, “Thanks for catching up with me. I have been meaning to give you a call. I have just gotten to the point where I can come up for air. Please let the group know that I am doing fine, and I am looking forward to resuming my duties with the PEPSIG soon.”