A Progressive, Collaborative Process to Improve a Curriculum and Define an Assessment Program.

Objective: To revise the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy's professional program outcomes and create an assessment map using results from previous peer review and mapping of all professional courses and curricular streams of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs).

Design: After consolidating 15 original program outcomes into 11 more precise outcome statements, defining KSAs for each, and getting faculty approval of them, the committee detailed measurable program expectations upon graduation for each outcome and created an assessment map identifying where KSAs were taught, how they were to be assessed, and the expected ability level (novice, competent, proficient) for each across the curriculum.

Assessment: The committee's work identified deficits, inconsistencies, and disproportionalities in professional program assessment.

Incremental development of an integrated assessment method for the professional curriculum.

Objective: To incrementally create and embed biannual integrated knowledge and skills examinations into final examinations of the pharmacy practice courses offered in the first 3 years of the pharmacy curriculum that would account for 10% of each course's final course grade.

Design: An ad hoc integrated examination committee was formed and tasked with addressing 4 key questions. Integrated examination committees for the first, second, and third years of the curriculum were established and tasked with identifying the most pertinent skills and knowledge-based content from each required course in the curriculum, developing measurable objectives addressing the pertinent content, and creating or revising multiple-choice and performance-based questions derived from integrated examination objectives.

Assessment of streams of knowledge, skill, and attitude development across the doctor of pharmacy curriculum.

Objective: To continue efforts of quality assurance following a 5-year curricular mapping and course peer review process, 18 topics ("streams") of knowledge, skills, and attitudes were assessed across the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum.

Design: The curriculum committee merged the 18 topics into 9 streams. Nine ad hoc committees ("stream teams") of faculty members and preceptors evaluated the content, integration, and assessment for their assigned streams across the 4 professional years.

A review of pharmacist contributions to diabetes care in the United States.

This paper summarizes the outcomes associated with pharmacist involvement in diabetes care in all pharmacy practice settings. Published literature was identified through a search of MEDLINE (1960 to September, week 1, 2008) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts using the search terms "pharmacist," "pharmaceutical care," and "diabetes mellitus." Only articles reporting clinical or behavior change outcomes were selected for review; papers written outside the United States and citations only in abstract form were not reviewed.

Using team-based learning in an endocrine module taught across two campuses.

Objectives: To implement a team-based learning (TBL) format in an endocrine module to promote students' active learning in a course delivered to 2 campuses.

Methods: Course lectures were transformed into 13 TBL sessions consisting of content pre-assignments (self-directed learning), in-class readiness assurance tests (accountability), and team problem solving of patient cases and faculty-led class discussion (knowledge application). Student performance was evaluated through multiple assessments during the TBL sessions and on unit examinations.