Counting on Change: Conquering Challenges in Teaching Pharmaceutical Calculations.

All pharmacists are expected to accurately perform pharmaceutical calculations to ensure patient safety. In recent years, there have been trends in declining performance on the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination related to calculations. Understanding the cause of this decline and determining methods to correct underlying issues could benefit pharmacy administration, faculty, students, and patients.

How Preceptors Support Pharmacy Learner Professional Identity Formation.

Objective: Pharmacy preceptors play a role in helping learners form professional identities during experiential education. However, it is not clear what specific roles and precepting strategies best foster professional identity formation (PIF). The objective of this study was to explore how preceptors support pharmacy learner PIF.

A Modified Delphi Involving Laboratory Faculty to Define Essential Skills for Pharmacy Graduates.

To define essential skills for Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) graduates that are needed in the four most common sectors of pharmacy practice as determined by expert faculty who instruct within pharmacy skills laboratories. A three-round Delphi method was used to establish consensus. In the first round, participants were asked what skills were needed by students at entry to practice in community, health-system, ambulatory care, and managed care pharmacy settings.

Correlation of MRSA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) wound swab testing and wound cultures in skin and soft tissue infections.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a considerable pathogen in the setting of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). MRSA PCR swab testing is widely used in the setting of respiratory tract infections, however little data exists relating to the use of MRSA PCR swab testing in SSTIs. Three thousand, nine hundred and ninety-five patients were included in this retrospective study that aimed to validate the clinical correlation of MRSA PCR wound swab testing in SSTIs through sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (NPV), and positive predictive value (PPV) analysis.

Correction: Mediators of racial and ethnic disparity in mother's own milk feeding in very low birth weight infants.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Mediators of racial and ethnic disparity in mother's own milk feeding in very low birth weight infants.

Background: Despite high initiation rates for mother's own milk (MOM) provision, MOM feeding at discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) drops precipitously and reveals a racial/ethnic disparity. This study sought to identify factors that (1) predict MOM feeding at NICU discharge, and (2) mediate racial/ethnic disparity in MOM feeding at discharge.

Methods: Secondary analysis of prospective cohort study of 415 mothers and their very low birth weight infants.

Suggested pharmacy practice laboratory activities to align with pre-APPE domains in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum.

Our Situation: The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education outlines ability statements that pharmacy students should be able to demonstrate prior to beginning their Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs). Practice laboratory courses offer extensive opportunities for students to participate in activities and assessments that enable them to meet the objectives outlined in the Pre-APPE Core Domains in Standards 2016. This review identifies selected published literature, activities, and assessment methods that can be adapted and implemented in practice laboratory courses to help achieve the abilities outlined within the Pre-APPE Core Domains.

Predictors of student performance on the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment at a new school of pharmacy using admissions and demographic data.

Objectives: To characterize student performance on the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment (PCOA) and to determine the significance of specific admissions criteria and pharmacy school performance to predict student performance on the PCOA during the first through third professional years.

Methods: Multivariate linear regression models were developed to study the relationships between various independent variables and students' PCOA total scores during the first through third professional years.

Results: To date, four cohorts have successfully taken the PCOA examination.

Polypharmacy and Multimorbidity Among Medicaid Enrollees: A Multistate Analysis.

The purpose of this study is to explore the associations between polypharmacy and multimorbidity using conventional and novel measures of polypharmacy. In this cross-sectional study, data on fee-for-service (FFS) Medicaid enrollees with at least 1 chronic condition and aged 18-64 years (N = 38,329) were derived from the 2010 Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX) files of Maryland and West Virginia. Polypharmacy, by the authors' novel definition, was determined as simultaneous use of ≥5 drugs for a consecutive period of 60 days.

Prevalence and Geographic Variations of Polypharmacy Among West Virginia Medicaid Beneficiaries.

Background: West Virginia (WV) residents are at high risk for polypharmacy given its considerable chronic disease burdens.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence, correlates, outcomes, and geographic variations of polypharmacy among WV Medicaid beneficiaries.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed 2009-2010 WV Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) claims data for adults aged 18-64 (N=37,570).

Barriers to Human Milk Feeding at Discharge of Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants: Maternal Goal Setting as a Key Social Factor.

Background: While black mothers initiate human milk (HM) provision at lower rates than non-black mothers in the United States, some neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) report similar initiation rates regardless of race/ethnicity for mothers of very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. However, racial disparity frequently becomes evident in the proportion of black infants who continue to receive HM feedings at NICU discharge. Since social factors have been associated with differences in HM provision for term infants, we sought to identify differences in social factors associated with HM feeding at discharge based on race/ethnicity.

Barriers to Human Milk Feeding at Discharge of Very Low-Birthweight Infants: Evaluation of Neighborhood Structural Factors.

Background: Although 98% of mothers in our cohort initiated human milk (HM) provision for their very low-birthweight (VLBW) infants, fewer black infants received HM at neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge than non-black infants. This study examined neighborhood structural factors associated with HM feeding at discharge to identify potential barriers.

Materials And Methods: Sociodemographic and HM data were prospectively collected for 410 VLBW infants and mothers.