Effect of Live Attendance and Video Capture Viewing on Student Examination Performance.

To compare pharmacy students' performance in a therapeutics course after attending live lectures and/or viewing video-recorded lectures. Attendance was taken during seven lectures spaced equally throughout the therapeutics course. Data on students' viewing of the video-recorded lectures was extracted.

Adherence to oral chemotherapy: Challenges and opportunities.

Purpose: There is very little data on the effect of combining methods to better predict and improve oral antineoplastic adherence in cancer patients. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intensive pharmacist intervention at the beginning of oral antineoplastic therapy versus nurse-led control group on adherence.

Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, open-label controlled trial performed in a single center hematology/oncology outpatient service to compare the effectiveness of repetitive pharmacist educational intervention on adherence rates measured at four and eight weeks after prescribing oral antineoplastic medication compared to a nurse-led control group.

Comparison of long-term knowledge retention in lecture-based versus flipped team-based learning course delivery.

Objectives: To determine whether team based learning (TBL) is superior to traditional lecture -based learning in confidence and knowledge retention one year later.

Design: A survey was administered 17 months after a completion of a required over-the-counter /self-care (OTC) course to two different cohorts of students. The survey assessed confidence and knowledge related to OTC topics.

Performance and Perceptions of Student Teams Created and Stratified Based on Academic Abilities.

To compare student performance, elements of peer evaluation and satisfaction of teams created according to students' course entrance grade point average (GPA). Two course sections were divided into teams of four to five students utilizing Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness (CATME) software. Of 336 students enrolled, 324 consented to participation.

Students' Attitudes, Academic Performance and Preferences for Content Delivery in a Very Large Self-Care Course Redesign.

Objective. To evaluate students' performance/attitudes toward a flipped team-based learning (TBL) format in a "very large" self-care course based on student content delivery preference. Design.

Psychiatric pharmacists' perception on the use of pharmacogenomic testing in the mental health population.

Aim: Pharmacogenomics could play a role in improving patient care, reducing adverse drug reactions and overall healthcare costs. However, whether it is utilized may be determined by how it is perceived by healthcare professionals, including pharmacists.

Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey evaluated psychiatric pharmacists' use, knowledge and perception of the effectiveness of such testing.

Pharmacist Assisted Medication Program Enhancing the Regulation of Diabetes (PAMPERED) study.

Objectives: To demonstrate that pharmacists working with physicians and other providers in an ambulatory care setting can improve glucose, blood pressure, and lipid control for patients with type 2 diabetes and to report patient adherence to screening and general preventive measures.

Design: Prospective, randomized, clinical practice study.

Setting: Burlington, MA, between January 2001 and August 2003.

Click it: assessment of classroom response systems in physician assistant education.

The effect that classroom response systems, or clickers, have on knowledge retention and student satisfaction was studied in a physician assistant program. A clicker, a device similar to a remote control, was used by students to answer questions during lectures. This new technology has been marketed to educators as beneficial in keeping students actively involved and increasing their attentiveness in the classroom.

Past experiences of the clinical instructor and current attitudes toward evaluation of students.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether clinical instructors' past experiences as radiation therapy students impact how they currently evaluate students in the clinical setting. Two survey instruments were mailed to a random sample of 400 credentialed radiation therapists. The first of these questionnaires sought information on past experiences as a student, and the second assessed current attitudes toward clinical evaluation.

Effect of additive selection on calculated aluminum content of parenteral nutrient solutions.

Purpose: The quantity of aluminum in common ingredients used to compound parenteral nutrient (PN) solutions was calculated to quantify the actual aluminum content, and opportunities to modify the aluminum content by changing the manufacturer of the ingredients were explored.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation of a random sample of 10 neonatal, 10 pediatric, and 10 adult patients who received PN solutions was performed to quantify the aluminum content in these solutions on the basis of the ingredients used at the authors' institution. A recalculation was performed using the lowest aluminumcontaining ingredients to determine the potential for aluminum minimization in each PN solution.

Dietary vitamin K variability affects International Normalized Ratio (INR) coagulation indices.

Background: Changes in daily vitamin K intake may contribute to marked variations in the International Normalized Ratio (INR) coagulation index in patients receiving oral warfarin anticoagulant therapy, with potentially serious adverse outcomes. Thus, patients receiving warfarin therapy are routinely counseled regarding this drug-nutrient interaction and are instructed to maintain consistent vitamin K intakes, though little quantitative information about this relationship is available.

Objective: To determine the quantitative impact of variability in dietary vitamin K(1) (phylloquinone) intake, assessed by a validated patient self-monitoring instrument, on weekly INR in patients receiving warfarin anticoagulant therapy.

Statin-related adverse events: a meta-analysis.

Background: The absolute frequencies of adverse events (AEs) between statins and placebo are very low in clinical trials, making clinical interpretation and application difficult.

Objectives: This meta-analysis was intended to synthesize the collective AE data observed in prospective randomized clinical trials to facilitate clinical interpretation.

Methods: Using the search terms atorvastatin, simvastatin,pravastatin, rosuvastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, prospective trial, and randomized trial, the MEDLINE/EMBASE and the Cochrane Collaboration databases were reviewed for prospective randomized primary and secondary prevention trials of statin monotherapy.

Using personal digital assistants to document pharmacist cognitive services and estimate potential reimbursement.

The use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to document pharmacist cognitive services and estimate potential reimbursement was studied. Between September 2001 and February 2002, four pharmacy residents and four clinical pharmacists used PDAs for documenting cognitive services. Interventions recorded on paper during the same six-month period one year earlier were reviewed for comparison.