Assessing Multiple-Mini Interview Performance Across Pharmacy Admissions Pathways.

Objective: To assess whether students who are admitted to a Doctor of Pharmacy program through different admissions pathways (early assurance vs other pathways) have significantly different affective domain competencies, as measured by multiple-mini interview (MMI) evaluations.

Methods: A secondary analysis of existing data was conducted at a single pharmacy school in the upper Midwestern U.S.

Appraisal of the entrustable professional activities interprofessional team member domain performed by North Dakota pharmacists.

Objective: To quantify the use of the interprofessional team member (ITM) domain of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) by North Dakota pharmacists across practice sites, roles in practice, and by preceptor status.

Methods: Survey methods were used to characterize the self-reported frequency with which pharmacists undertake core EPAs and supporting tasks in the ITM domain. The survey was administered to registered pharmacists practicing in North Dakota (n=990) during the fall of 2018, of which 457 (46.

Evaluation of the entrustable professional activities (EPAs) of the population health promoter domain by North Dakota pharmacists.

Background: Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are a list of professional tasks that pharmacy educational organizations support, and accreditation organizations encourage, for assessment by colleges and schools of pharmacy.

Objective: This manuscript evaluates the perceived frequency of performing EPAs in the population health promoter (PHP) domain among pharmacists practicing in North Dakota.

Methods: This survey evaluated the self-reported EPA activities of registered pharmacists living and practicing in North Dakota.

Assessment of Practice Management Entrustable Professional Activities by Pharmacists in North Dakota.

To quantify the use of core entrustable practice activities (EPAs) in contemporary pharmacy practice in North Dakota. Given the large number of core EPAs, this study focused on those supporting tasks categorized within the practice manager domain. The survey instrument was sent to all registered pharmacists living and practicing in North Dakota (n=990).

Appraisal of the entrustable professional activities (EPAs) patient care provider domain by North Dakota pharmacists.

Background: Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are the latest addition to a list of professional competencies that pharmacy educational organizations support, and accreditation organizations require, for assessment by colleges and schools of pharmacy.

Objective: The study's objective is to assess the use of Core EPAs in the patient care domain (by practice setting, position, and preceptor status) in contemporary pharmacy practice.

Methods: This survey assessed the EPA activities of pharmacists practicing in North Dakota.

Study Abroad Course for Pre-pharmacy and Pharmacy Students to Learn About Global Health.

To design, implement, and assess a study abroad course in Ireland for pre-professional and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students. An elective study abroad course was created for pre-professional and PharmD students at North Dakota State University. The course included comparison of the US and Ireland's health care delivery systems and participation in history and cultural experiences in Ireland.

Impact of Achieved Tenure and Promotion on Faculty Research Productivity at a School of Pharmacy.

Objective: Critics of the promotion and tenure system contend that promotion and tenure may lead to a decline in research productivity ("dead wood phenomena") by those faculty. To assess this perception, we compiled the publications and grants at the time of application for promotion, and again through 2017 for the same faculty following promotion and/or tenure.

Methods: Promotion documents at a school of pharmacy at a public Midwestern university were assessed.

Emergency department utilization among individuals with idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

Purpose: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) can be a debilitating disorder that is difficult to identify and treat. Failure to adequately manage IIH symptoms may force patients to present at emergency departments (EDs) seeking symptom relief. The purpose of this paper is to empirically characterize ED use by previously diagnosed IIH patients.

Perceived sustainability of community telepharmacy in North Dakota.

Objectives: To assess the sustainability of the business model underlying the North Dakota Telepharmacy Project (NDTP).

Setting: Of the 38 community pharmacy organizations (14 central, 24 remote), 27 organizations (11 central and 16 remote sites) in North Dakota provided a useable set of responses (71.1% response rate).

Opioid misuse among adolescents: new evidence from a misclassification analysis.

Background: Non-medical prescription-opioid (NMPO) use has been declared a national epidemic in the US. Opioid misuse is associated with substantial physiological, psychological, and concomitant economic implications. NMPO use among adolescents warrants special attention given its prevalence and the high risk of addiction.

The health sciences reasoning test in the pharmacy admissions process.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of including Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) scores in the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) admissions process compared with other criteria used.

Methods: The HSRT was administered to all prepharmacy students who were selected for an interview (n=122) as part of the PharmD program admissions process. The HSRT score and other evaluation criteria were used to establish candidate rankings.

Medication error reporting in rural critical access hospitals in the North Dakota Telepharmacy Project.

Purpose: Results of a study of medication "quality-related events" (QREs) at critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in a telepharmacy project are reported.

Methods: Rates and types of medication QREs (i.e.

What types of nursing facilities are more likely to adopt a pharmacist's medication review recommendations?

Background: Few studies in the literature have analyzed the determinants of pharmacist drug therapy recommendations in nursing facility settings, and those that have focus primarily on accepted/rejected recommendations by disease state.

Objective: To identify the set of nursing facility characteristics that are more likely to adopt a pharmacist's medication review recommendations.

Design: Cross-sectional, retrospective methods are used to examine 53 licensed nursing facilities receiving medication review services from a small independent consultant pharmacist practice with no ties to vendor pharmacy functions.

Glycosaminoglycan-mediated selective changes in the aggregation states, zeta potentials, and intrinsic stability of liposomes.

Though the aggregation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the presence of liposomes and divalent cations has been previously reported, the effects of different GAG species and minor changes in GAG composition on the aggregates that are formed are yet unknown. If minor changes in GAG composition produce observable changes in the liposome aggregate diameter or zeta potential, such a phenomenon may be used to detect potentially dangerous oversulfated contaminants in heparin. We studied the mechanism of the interactions between heparin and its oversulfated glycosaminoglycan contaminants with liposomes.

Fluorescent polymer-based post-translational differentiation and subtyping of breast cancer cells.

Herein, we report the application of synthesized fluorescent, water soluble polymers for post-translational subtyping and differentiation of breast cancer cells in vitro. The fluorescence emission spectra from these polymers were modulated differently in the presence of conditioned cell culture media from various breast cancer cells. These polymers differentiate at a post-translation level possibly due to their ability to interact with extracellular enzymes that are over-expressed in cancerous conditions.

Differences in medication errors between central and remote site telepharmacies.

Objective: To examine differences in dispensing errors within community telepharmacy practices by comparing error rates across central sites (community telepharmacy sites with pharmacists present) and the corresponding remote sites, which are staffed by registered technicians and overseen by the central site pharmacist.

Design: Cross-sectional pilot study with a test group (remote sites) and comparison group (central sites).

Setting: 24 rural community telepharmacies (14 remote sites and 10 central sites).

Comparison of pharmacy students' perceived and actual knowledge using the Pharmacy Curricular Outcomes Assessment.

Objective: To determine whether a correlation exists between third-year PharmD students' perceived pharmacy knowledge and actual pharmacy knowledge as assessed by the Pharmacy Curricular Outcomes Assessment (PCOA).

Methods: In 2010 and 2011, the PCOA was administered in a low-stakes environment to third-year pharmacy students at North Dakota State University College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Sciences (COPNAS). A survey instrument was also administered on which students self-assessed their perceived competencies in each of the core areas covered by the PCOA examination.

Evaluation of an interview process for admission into a school of pharmacy.

Objective: To evaluate the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) admissions interview process at North Dakota State University (NDSU).

Methods: Faculty pairs interviewed candidates using a standardized grading rubric to evaluate qualitative parameters or attributes such as ethics, relevant life and work experience, emotional maturity, commitment to patient care, leadership, and understanding of the pharmacy profession. Total interview scores, individual attribute domain scores, and the consistency and reliability of the interviewers were assessed.

Differentiation of prostate cancer cells using flexible fluorescent polymers.

Using water-soluble, fluorescent, flexible polymers, we have devised a novel methodology for identification and differentiation of prostate cancer cells. Using a stepwise linear discriminant analysis, we demonstrate that the differential modulations of the polymer emission intensities in the presence of conditioned cell culture media can be used to distinguish between prostate cancer subtypes and between cancerous and noncancer cells. The differences in the compositions of the conditioned cell culture media are likely contributing to different fluorescence spectral patterns of the polymers.

Do remote community telepharmacies have higher medication error rates than traditional community pharmacies? Evidence from the North Dakota Telepharmacy Project.

Objective: To evaluate the differences in medication dispensing errors between remote telepharmacy sites (pharmacist not physically present) and standard community pharmacy sites (pharmacist physically present and no telepharmacy technology; comparison group).

Design: Pilot, cross-sectional, comparison study.

Setting: North Dakota from January 2005 to September 2008.

Fluorescent liposomes for differential interactions with glycosaminoglycans.

We have successfully synthesized a lipid containing the pyranine dye as the hydrophilic headgroup. This lipid was incorporated into liposomes with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine as the major component. The resultant liposomes displayed differential modulations in fluorescence emission intensity in the presence of nanomolar concentrations of different glycosaminoglycans.

Fluorescent water soluble polymers for isozyme-selective interactions with matrix metalloproteinase-9.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are overexpressed in various pathological conditions, including cancers. Although these isozymes have similar active sites, the patterns of exposed amino acids on their surfaces are different. Herein, we report the synthesis and molecular interactions of two water soluble, fluorescent polymers which demonstrate selective interactions with MMP-9 compared to MMP-7 and -10.

Measuring shared inefficiency between hospital cost centers.

In this article, a combination of data envelopment analysis, spreadsheet modeling and regression techniques is applied to a panel of nonprofit Washington State hospitals in an effort to determine whether (and if so, to what extent) inefficiency in one hospital cost center is shared with inefficiency in other cost centers. The findings suggest that a significant amount of inefficiency is shared across hospital cost centers. The authors further determine that certain cost centers contribute more to the overall performance of a given hospital than others.

Identifying characteristics that allow pharmacy technicians to assume unconventional roles in the pharmacy.

Objective: To identify aspects of pharmacy technicians' experience, training, practice setting, and location that influence whether technicians undertook roles traditionally performed by pharmacists.

Design: Descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study.

Setting: North Dakota in 2005.

Preliminary evaluation of medication therapy management services in assisted living facilities in rural Minnesota.

Objectives: While pharmacists are providing medication therapy management (MTM) services, few programs have been assessed for outcomes, particularly those in rural areas. The objectives are to: 1) categorize the number and type of drug-therapy problems (DTPs) that were identified by consultant pharmacists in assisted living facilities, 2) assess resident and administrator satisfaction of consultant pharmacist MTM services, and 3) assess the direct costs of providing MTM services and make some preliminary inferences about the program's economic viability.

Design: We conducted a cross-sectional, pilot study at 14 assisted living facilities over a 12-month period.