"Brown bag" simulations to teach drug utilization review.

Objective: To teach drug utilization review (DUR) skills to pharmacy students and assess their abilities and confidence before and after training.

Design: Profile reviews and online and live drug-utilization-review activities of increasing difficulty were incorporated into the first (P1), second (P2), and third (P3) years of the Pharmacy Skills Training Laboratory sequence in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum.

Assessment: An online survey instrument was administered to gauge how comfortable students were with specific DUR skills before and after the activities.

The physician's role in managing acute stress disorder.

Acute stress disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that may occur in patients within four weeks of a traumatic event. Features include anxiety, intense fear or helplessness, dissociative symptoms, reexperiencing the event, and avoidance behaviors. Persons with this disorder are at increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder.

A survey of pharmacy students' experiences with gambling.

Objectives: To assess gambling among pharmacy students using the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS).

Methods: Six hundred fifty-eight pharmacy students enrolled at Creighton University were surveyed to determine the extent and characteristics of their gambling.

Results: Four hundred eighty-eight students (74.

Generalized anxiety disorder: practical assessment and management.

Generalized anxiety disorder is common among patients in primary care. Affected patients experience excessive chronic anxiety and worry about events and activities, such as their health, family, work, and finances. The anxiety and worry are difficult to control and often lead to physiologic symptoms, including fatigue, muscle tension, restlessness, and other somatic complaints.

Dental student experiences with gambling: a survey of attitudes, exposure, and impact.

The aim of this study is to assess the extent and characteristics of gambling among dental students. Three hundred sixteen dental students enrolled at a private midwestern dental school accessed the twenty-six-item modified South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) as an online survey. Students were advised of the anonymity and confidentiality of the survey results.

Use of a multidisciplinary tool to achieve target outcomes in Native American patients with diabetes: Treat-to-target.

Purpose: Our purpose was to test a communication tool used in a multidisciplinary setting to more effectively achieve the recommended goals for glucose, blood pressure, lipids, and prophylactic aspirin use in a Native American population with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: One hundred randomly selected patients were included in this observational, pre-intervention, post-intervention study design. The team began with a chart audit documenting hemoglobin A(1c) (Hgb A(1c)), blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and aspirin use.

Depression and congestive heart failure.

The prevalence rates of depression in congestive heart failure patients range from 24%-42%. Depression is a graded, independent risk factor for readmission to the hospital, functional decline, and mortality in patients with congestive heart failure. Physicians can assess depression by using the SIG E CAPS + mood mnemonic, or any of a number of easily administered and scored self-report inventories.