Implementation and evaluation of activities to foster a sense of community among pharmacy students.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of a series of team-based instructional activities on students' sense of community for pharmacy students assigned to the main and distance program sites.

Materials And Methods: In conjunction with a teaching objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) conducted at the program's distance site, several team-based sense of community activities were completed. The classroom and school community inventory (CSCI) was adapted and administered to students prior to and following all learning activities to measure course and program sense of community.

Teaching clinical reasoning and problem-solving skills using human patient simulation.

This paper discusses using human patient simulation (HPS) to expose students to complex dynamic patient cases that require clinical judgment, problem-solving skills, and teamwork skills for success. An example of an HPS exercise used to teach multifaceted clinical concepts in a therapeutics course also is provided.