Training pharmacy students to deliver bad news using the SPIKES model.

Background And Purpose: Delivery of bad news or negative health information is a complex skill critical to the provision of patient care. While counseling models with this focus exist within other health care professions, their use in pharmacy education is lacking. The purpose of this study is to assess pharmacy students' ability to deliver bad news with the implementation of a counseling model titled SPIKES (Setting, Perception, Invitation, Knowledge, Emotions with Empathy, and Strategy/Summary).

Assessing Learner Engagement and the Impact on Academic Performance within a Virtual Learning Environment.

Background: The objective of this pilot study was to examine student engagement with weekly self-paced learning materials in a virtual therapeutics course, and how sub-factors in the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) may have influenced academic performance.

Methods: Students within a diabetes module of a therapeutics course were provided with weekly asynchronous optional self-directed learning activities. Student submissions, on-time rates, self-reported weekly study time, and exam performance were collected.