Postgraduate year one pharmacy residency program equivalency.

In 2006, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) charged the Task Force on Residency Equivalency to define the professional experience expected of a clinically mature practitioner that would meet or exceed the knowledge and skills of an accredited postgraduate year one residency-trained pharmacist. In this commentary, the Task Force discusses both the qualitative and quantitative components of documentation by means of a residency equivalency portfolio. The potential roles of academia, pharmacy professional organizations, and employers and the possible barriers to an equivalency process are addressed.

Rates of hospitalizations and emergency department visits in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease taking beta-blockers.

Study Objective: To determine the rates of hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits during cardioselective and nonselective beta-blocker therapy in patients with asthma and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Design: Retrospective, observational cohort study.

Data Source: Electronic medical records database.

Incidence and economic implications of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia in medical patients receiving prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism.

Study Objectives: To determine the incidence of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) in patients admitted to a medical service who were given unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) to prevent venous thromboembolism, the incremental cost of developing HIT, and the cost consequences of using LMWH to prevent venous thromboembolism in medical patients.

Design: Retrospective analysis with a nested case-control.

Setting: University-affiliated tertiary-care hospital.

Postoperative opiate analgesia requirements of smokers and nonsmokers.

Background: Smoking cigarettes and other forms of nicotine administration appear to blunt the perception of pain. Abrupt discontinuation of nicotine in nicotine-dependent patients appears to increase the perception of pain. The clinical importance of nicotine's effect on pain perception is not fully understood.