Best Practices for the Teaching and Assessing Population Health and Wellness.

Objective: To describe the concept of population health and wellness in the context of pharmacy education, curricular integration and assessment methods.

Findings: The definition of population health and wellness, different from public health, emphasizes the importance of environmental, biological, and social factors in determining population health outcomes. Various population health measures, including objective (mortality rates, life expectancy) and subjective (self-rated health, quality of life) indicators, can be used when teaching and assessing population-based care.

Preceptor perspectives on disability-related accommodations in pharmacy experiential education.

Introduction: Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standards require reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities in an educational setting. There is limited information regarding preceptor experiences and perspectives associated with accommodations in the pharmacy experiential learning environment. This study examined preceptor experiences and viewpoints and explored opportunities for schools/colleges of pharmacy (S/COP) to provide support and education for preceptors when meeting access needs.

Assessment of clinician agreement with and knowledge of evidence-based obesity treatment in the primary care setting.

Introduction: Effective, evidence-based obesity treatment is needed, which often involves use of anti-obesity medications (AOMs). Data on the breadth and quality of guideline-directed obesity treatment implementation in primary care remain limited. This study aimed to assess primary care clinicians' agreement with and knowledge of guideline-directed obesity treatment, as well as to assess the health status of persons with obesity and their use of AOMs.

Prioritizing Faculty Well-Being: Why it Matters, What Schools Can Do, and a Call for Action.

Previous studies have identified high rates of burnout among health care workers and health professions faculty. Despite interventions being showcased at national meetings in both posters and platform presentations, there is minimal peer-reviewed published research focusing on professional well-being interventions and their assessments specific to pharmacy faculty. This commentary serves as a call to action to design and publish research related to work-system interventions to decrease burnout and promote professional well-being among all academic pharmacy faculty, and particularly subgroups who may be most at risk, such as women and assistant-level faculty.

Envisioning the Near Future of Community Pharmacy Patient Care Practice: Report of the 2023-2024 AACP Professional Affairs Standing Committee.

The 2023-2024 Professional Affairs Committee was charged to (1) Create an action plan in response to the clear urgent need for transformation of community pharmacy practice; and (2) Develop "readiness for change" instrument that addresses multiple pharmacy stakeholder groups that are based on the ACT "community pharmacy enhanced services" definition. Due to the continuous and rapid-paced changes occurring in community pharmacy practice, the committee developed a document that provides the baseline elements that should be considered for community pharmacy practice currently and into the future. This document, Envisioning the Near Future of Community Pharmacy Patient Care Practice: Key Elements of Practice Redesign in Community Pharmacies, contains 8 sections and is recommended to be socialized within the pharmacy profession to ensure that it resonates with current and future community pharmacy practice.

The pharmacist's role in optimizing medication management before, during, and after minimally invasive and bariatric surgery.

Purpose: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) with integrated enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) helps reduce length of stay and improve surgical outcomes. As these procedures have become more prevalent over time, pharmacists are in key positions to manage medications in the perioperative space to help optimize transitions of care and reduce safety events. Here we identify several clinical areas across phases of care for these procedures in which the knowledge and guidance of pharmacists, as members of the interprofessional team, are paramount.

Adjunct Preceptor Perceptions of Motivation, Understanding, and Support for the Precepting Role.

Objective: To determine adjunct pharmacist preceptor perceptions of their precepting role related to three domains: motivation to precept, understanding the precepting role, and support for precepting.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey of 2429 adjunct preceptors for four schools of pharmacy was conducted. Participants ranked their agreement with 81 statements regarding the three domains, including eleven subdomains.

Impact of Simulation Manikins to Train Pharmacy Students in Nasal, Throat, and Oral Fluid Swab Collection.

A point-of-care testing (POCT) certificate was implemented in a required pharmacy skills-based course. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of manikins on student confidence in performing POCT swabs for infectious diseases. Manikins were used to train second-year pharmacy students on nasal swabs, throat swabs, and oral fluid swabs.

Engaging Student Pharmacists in Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity Through Photovoice.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of an interactive photovoice activity on the perceptions of social determinants of health (SDOH) and health equity among first professional year student pharmacists.

Methods: This study used a mixed-methods exploratory approach at 4 institutions. All students completed a standardized intervention using a prerecorded lecture, active learning using photovoice, and an in-depth debriefing session.

What Types of Data are Pharmacy Education Scholars Using in their Abstracts for Poster Presentations?

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the data being used to support poster presentations in pharmacy education scholarship.

Methods: Research and education posters presented at the 2020 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting were unitized to isolate text to be coded, and two coders categorized the quantitative and qualitative data by type and source. Questionnaires, instruments, and exams were categorized as new (ie developed and used for this particular inquiry) vs.

Renoprotective Effects of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists Against Diabetic Kidney Disease.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a growing epidemic worldwide and a leading cause of end-stage kidney disease. Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blockade using Finerenone is a recently approved therapeutic approach to slow down the progression of DKD in patients with type 2 diabetes in addition to other therapies such as angiotensin-II converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogs. This review elaborates on the pathophysiologic pathways activated by aldosterone (the human mineralocorticoid) in DKD, the pharmacology of three different generations of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs), specifically, spironolactone, eplerenone, and finerenone, and the mechanisms by which these MRAs elicit their protective effects on the kidney under diabetic settings.

The Impact of Cocurricular Engagement on Doctor of Pharmacy Students' Personal and Professional Development.

Objective: To explore how third-year students in 4-year Doctor of Pharmacy programs make meaning of their participation in cocurricular activities relative to their personal and professional development, and to determine the extent to which any perceived learning outcomes identified by the students align with the personal and professional development skills required for new Doctor of Pharmacy graduates, as identified in Standard 4 of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standard 4.

Methods: Seventy third-year Doctor of Pharmacy students across 4 schools/colleges of pharmacy were interviewed and completed a preinterview survey to gather demographic data. Data were analyzed through an inductive, iterative process, which was completed multiple times until theoretical ideas were formulated through a deductive process.

Relationship between advanced pharmacy practice experience grading schemes and pharmacy residency match rates.

Purpose: To determine the relationship of advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) grading schemes and other pharmacy program variables (ie, program age and funding) with pharmacy residency match rates.

Summary: A 12-question survey was disseminated to experiential administrators of pharmacy programs in October 2018. Respondents identified their program's APPE grading scheme (pass/fail, letter grades, or other) and associated pros and cons.

Anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies for the prevention and treatment of type 1 diabetes: A literature review.

Purpose: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of beta cells, resulting in a loss of insulin production. Patients with T1D carry a substantial disease burden as well as substantial short-term and long-term risks associated with inadequate glycemic control. Currently, treatment mainly consists of insulin, which only treats the symptoms of T1D and not the root cause.

Impact of Pharmaceutical Education on Medication Adherence and Its Clinical Efficacy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Systemic Arterial Hypertension.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of pharmaceutical education on medication adherence in patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Systemic Arterial Hypertension.

Patients And Methods: This randomized clinical trial enrolled patients with a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Systemic Arterial Hypertension treated in an internal medicine outpatient clinic of a teaching hospital. One hundred and three patients were randomly assigned to the study groups; 51 to the control group and 52 to the intervention group with a 6 months follow-up.

Implementation and evaluation of a practice transformation advanced pharmacy practice experience.

Background And Purpose: Advanced entrepreneurship opportunities are important to consider as entrepreneurial skills become increasingly important to develop in pharmacy students. This institution implemented a new practice transformation advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE), pairing students with community partners to implement and/or evaluate pharmacy services, network with pharmacists, and receive mentorship. The purpose of this article is to describe the APPE and students' outcomes during this first pilot year.

Suboptimal Dosing of Benzodiazepines and Levetiracetam in a Cohort of Status Epilepticus Patients and Outcomes Associated with Inadequate Dosing.

Status epilepticus (SE) is a neurologic emergency that can result in serious morbidity and mortality. Recent studies have suggested underdosing of both benzodiazepines (BZDs) and antiseizure medications (ASM) which may result in poorer outcomes. This study aims to determine the dose of BZDs and levetiracetam given in our emergency department for episodes of SE and determine the outcomes associated with this dosing.

Scholarly maturation and other factors supporting publishing productivity in educational scholarship for clinical faculty.

Introduction: In order to advance curricula and faculty career progression, it would be helpful to increase publishing success and productivity in educational scholarship. The objective of this study was to describe the key factors and strategies that contribute to publishing success and productivity in the publication of educational scholarship by clinical pharmacy faculty.

Methods: Participants were identified from 2007 to 2016 PubMed and Science Direct publication records or by having received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Emerging Teaching Scholars Award.

Renoprotective mechanisms of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors against the progression of diabetic kidney disease.

Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2-Is) have emerged as a promising class of antidiabetic drugs with cardioprotective and renoprotective effects in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). The sodium-glucose co-transporters 1 and 2 (SGLT 1 and SGLT2) located in the renal proximal tubules are responsible for glucose reabsorption from the glomerular filtrate back into the systemic circulation. Inhibition of SGLT2, which accounts for about 90% of the glucose reabsorption, leads to a significant reduction in blood glucose levels and a concomitant increase in the urinary excretion of glucose (glycosuria).

Use of a script concordance test to evaluate the impact of a targeted educational strategy on clinical reasoning in advanced pharmacy practice experiential students.

Background And Purpose: It is unclear how clinical reasoning is impacted by a single advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) and how preceptors can further develop these skills.

Educational Activity And Setting: Students completing an APPE within four sites were invited to participate. To assess clinical reasoning skills, students completed a 30 item script concordance test (SCT) during week 1 and week 5 of a rotation.

Advancing Community Pharmacy Practice - A Technician Product Verification Pilot to Optimize Care.

Elevating the technical role of pharmacy technicians to perform Technician Product Verification (TPV) is one strategy that has shown promise to optimize pharmacy practice models. This is done by better positioning pharmacists to provide clinical care, in line with their education and expertise. TPV permits a Validated Pharmacy Technician, as defined by the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board, to verify the accuracy of a product filled by another technician.

Faculty preceptors' strategies for teaching clinical reasoning skills in the advanced pharmacy practice experience setting.

Introduction: Clinical reasoning is essential to providing quality patient care. However, advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) students may struggle with the real-life aspects of patient care, and it may be difficult to quickly identify these students in order to make meaningful interventions. The purpose of this study was to explore pharmacy faculty preceptors' strategies for identifying gaps and teaching clinical reasoning in the APPE setting.

Survey concerning internal medicine physicians and prolonged QT interval: Knowledge and treatment practices.

Prolongation of the QT interval is associated with adverse cardiac events specifically Torsades de pointes (TdP). There are multiple mediations that have a known, possible, or conditional risk for prolonged QT interval, but general practitioners' knowledge of these medications is unknown. We conducted a survey to assess internal medicine (IM) providers' knowledge of risk factors and medications associated with prolonged QT as well as provider experience and comfort when treating patients with prolonged QT.

Pentoxifylline or theophylline use in hospitalized COVID-19 patients requiring oxygen support.

Introduction: The phosphodiesterase inhibitors theophylline and pentoxifylline have anti-inflammatory properties that may make them useful in COVID-19 pneumonia. We conducted a retrospective review of hospitalized COVID-19 patients requiring oxygen who received these drugs.

Objectives: To examine the potential efficacy and safety of theophylline and pentoxifylline in COVID-19 pneumonia patients.