Educational Debt and Income Among Pharmacists and Other Health Professionals.

Objective: Given the substantial increases in student educational loan debt in recent years, the objective was to assess trends in educational debt-to-income ratios for graduates of pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, optometry, and veterinary medicine programs in the United States in the 2017-2022 period.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 2017-2022 data for educational debt and income for select health professions was conducted. Annual income data were collected from the American Community Survey, and educational debt data were collected from health professions organizations.

Xenotransplantation could either be a friend or foe of healthcare equity.

There are critical shortages in donor organs available for transplantation in the United States, with some racial and ethnic groups facing disparities in access. Xenotransplantation is currently an experimental approach, but has the promise of significantly increasing organ supply. Here, we discuss inequities in access to transplantation and the potential role of xenotransplantation in alleviating these inequities.

Analysis of 10-year income trends for pharmacists and other select health professionals.

Purpose: To evaluate income trends among pharmacists and other select health professions (dentists, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and physicians) in the US for the 10-year period of 2012 to 2021, with special attention given to the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and 2021).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 2012 to 2021 income data for select health professions, collected from the American Community Survey. Univariate time series analysis was conducted using exponential smoothing to examine income patterns over the 10-year study period and forecast income for the next 5-year period (2022 to 2026) for each health profession.

Integration of Trauma-informed Care Into the Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum.

Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a framework based on understanding and responding to individuals' experiences of psychological trauma (defined as harmful circumstances that have a lasting impact on emotional well-being), as well as fostering their sense of safety and empowerment. Health profession degree programs are increasingly integrating TIC training into their curricula. Although literature is scarce regarding TIC education in academic pharmacy, student pharmacists will likely encounter patients, co-workers, and peers who have experienced psychological trauma.

A diversity index to measure underrepresented minority enrollment in United States colleges and schools of pharmacy.

Introduction: With an underrepresented minority (URM) student population of <20%, colleges and schools of pharmacy (CoPs) in the United States (US) lag behind the national population, in which URMs account for >30%. Few tools are available to assist the >140 US CoPs in tracking progress in URM diversity among student pharmacists. Thus, the study's purpose was to address this gap by: (1) creating a "diversity index" for pharmacy programs; and (2) determining changes in diversity index scores between 2011 and 2020.