COEPA ready: Innovative pedagogy for integrating social determinants of health in PharmD curricula.

Background: The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) recognize the need for social determinants of health (SDH) education for pharmacy learners. However, there is a dearth of published strategies for incorporating comprehensive SDH education in Doctor of Pharmacy curricula. The objectives of this study were to: 1) highlight unpublished exemplars of SDH teaching models and 2) propose strategies for teaching SDH.

Management of obesity.

Disclaimer: In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time.

Evaluating the Need for Competency-Based Pharmacy Education (CBPE): The Report of the 2023-2024 Academic Affairs Standing Committee.

The 2023-2024 Academic Affairs Committee was charged to create a sense of urgency around the concept of Competency-Based Pharmacy Education and develop a "readiness for change" instrument that is based on the 5 essential elements that make up the definition of Competency-Based Pharmacy Education. This report describes the process undertaken by the committee to determine the societal needs of pharmacists and current state of pharmacy practice and pharmacy education. The practice gaps in pharmacy education and the key drivers needed to close these gaps are evaluated.

Perceptions of Remediation Policies and Procedures in Pharmacy Education.

Objective: This study aimed to (1) explore the perceptions of current remediation processes among pharmacy program administrators and faculty, and (2) identify factors surrounding successful or unsuccessful remediation in a pharmacy program.

Methods: This qualitative study used the following 3 stakeholder focus groups with distinct perspectives: didactic faculty, experiential faculty, and administrators. A screening survey was used to identify eligible participants, and quota sampling was used to represent various institution types and stakeholder experience.

Meaningful Connections: Exploring the Relationship Between Empathy and Professional Identity Formation.

Objective: To describe the literature on the connections between empathy and professional identity formation (PIF) in pharmacy and other health professions education. A PRISMA-Scoping Review methodology was used for this study. Searches were conducted in PubMed and CINAHL from 2010 to January 12, 2023, with English added as a limiter.

Evaluating the Strengths and Barriers of Competency-Based Education in the Health Professions.

Objective: This study aimed to define competency-based education (CBE) for pharmacy education and describe how strengths and barriers of CBE can support or hinder implementation.

Findings: Sixty-five studies were included from a variety of health professions in order to define competency based pharmacy education (CBPE) and identify barriers and benefits from the learner, faculty, institution, and society perspectives. From the 7 identified thematic categories, a CBPE definition was developed: "Competency-based pharmacy education is an outcomes-based curricular model of an organized framework of competencies (knowledge, skills, attitudes) for pharmacists to meet health care and societal needs.

The Need for Competency-Based Education.

Objectives: While pharmacy education updates learning as new information arises, changes to learning experiences can trail behind current practices and technology. There have been multiple calls for radical changes in how health professions education is delivered to ensure patients are receiving high-quality care. Competency-based education has been one way discussed in the literature for how to handle this need to develop students who have a willingness to learn and can problem-solve.

A Guide to Innovation in Physician Associate/Assistant Education: Using Instructional Technology for Improved Engagement.

For physician associate/assistant (PA) educators, the path of least resistance often is to focus our cognitive energies on topics with which we are most comfortable and to deliver content in the style in which we are most accustomed. The consequence of this approach is that many didactic curricula are delivered in a traditional, lecture-based format, which then aligns with how the faculty were taught. Studies show that lecture-based teaching may not be the most effective and that blending teaching modalities can improve knowledge acquisition.

Enabling Factors for the Implementation of Competency-Based Curricula in Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy.

Objectives: To review the implementation drivers of competency-based pharmacy education (CBPE) and provide recommendations for enablers.

Findings: Competency-based education is an emerging model in the health professions, focusing on time-variable competency development and achievement compared with a time-bound, course-based, traditional model. CBPE is an outcomes-based organized framework of competencies enabling pharmacists to meet health care and societal needs.

A National Survey of Perceptions Around Conditions Associated With Pharmacy Faculty Workload Equity.

Objective: To assess pharmacy faculty members' perceptions of conditions associated with workload equity and factors that can improve workload equity.

Methods: A 26-item survey instrument was developed and distributed via email to members of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Council of Faculties. Questions pertained to the workload distribution, fairness in assignment, and perception of the conditions associated with workload equity (transparency, context, credit, clarity, norms, and accountability) as well as institutional and individual demographics.

Impact of Pharmacy-Related Memes on Students' Professional Identity Formation.

Objective: Professional identity formation (PIF) is the process which one internalizes the values and norms of a profession, ultimately becoming a member of that profession. The objective of this study was to determine the perceived professional identities of pharmacists in memes and how pharmacy-related memes affect students' PIF.

Methods: Student pharmacists from a single academic institution participated in focus groups to discuss the concept of professional identity, view self-submitted pharmacy-related memes, and reflect on the memes' impact on their PIF.

Report of the 2023 AACP Council of Deans Taskforce on Pharmacy Research and Scholarship.

Objective: The objective of this review is to provide the conclusions from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Council of Deans (COD) Taskforce on Research and Scholarship.

Findings: The charges and the findings of the committee are: (1) Define the scholarship needs/opportunities to strengthen the outputs. The committee recommends that AACP update its definitions of research/scholarship to include discovery, integration, application/practice, and teaching/learning.

Use of remote patient monitoring kits to reduce hospitalization and mortality rates for patients with heart failure.

Purpose: Patients with heart failure (HF) are at an increased risk of volume overload, which can lead to hospital admission. Use of noninvasive remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices utilizing biometric sensors and weighing scales to track vital signs and body weight has uncertain benefits. At the Baptist Health Louisville (BHLOU) HF Clinic, high-risk patients were given RPM kits.

Competency-based pharmacy education definition: What components need to be defined to implement it?

Objectives: This study aimed to define the essential elements in the proposed competency-based pharmacy education (CBPE) definition, provide the key defining components of each essential element on the basis of educational theory and evidence, and define how the essential elements meet the identified needs for CBPE.

Methods: best-practice integrative review was conducted as part of the work of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy CBPE Task Force to define the essential elements in the CBPE definition and how these elements fit with the need for CBPE. The definition was compared with other published competency-based education definitions across K-12, higher education, medical education, and veterinary education.

'R' you ready to save time? Using R to facilitate question creation in a pharmaceutical calculations course.

Background And Purpose: Pharmacists are expected to perform quick and accurate calculations throughout their careers. To achieve a proficient skill level, student pharmacists need ample and varied opportunities to practice pharmaceutical calculations. However, the creation of practice modalities can be time-consuming and labor-intensive for instructors.

Work-Family Conflict and Wellbeing in US Pharmacy Faculty with Children.

Objective: Objectives of this study included characterization of the current landscape of work-family conflict (WFC), family-work conflict (FWC), wellbeing, and childcare-related factors in United States (US) pharmacy faculty members with children, as well as relationship determination between faculty characteristics and WFC, FWC, and wellbeing indices.

Methods: A survey was developed and administered to US pharmacy faculty members with children in February 2022. Questions included demographic and childcare-related factors and the validated Netemeyer WFC and FWC scales, and World Health Organization (WHO-5) Wellbeing Index.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in the Future of Pharmacy Education.

Recent developments making an artificial intelligence (AI) large language model available for public use have generated significant interest and angst among educators. Viewed as both a time saver and a threat to academic integrity, several questions have arisen about AI's role in education. Numerous opportunities exist to use AI for teaching and learning, but new questions have also arisen regarding AI's impact on the future of healthcare.

Finalizing the Work Related to the Curriculum Outcomes and Example Objectives and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) Document: The Report of the 2022-2023 Academic Affairs Standing Committee.

The 2022-2023 Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) was charged to (1) complete the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) revisions (now renamed as COEPA - Curriculum Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities) after receiving feedback at the 2022 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Annual Meeting; (2) offer guidance on how the revised COEPA education outcomes and EPA statements should be used by member institutions, faculty, preceptor, and students; (3) guide input into the ongoing revision of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) standards for the Doctor of Pharmacy program. The published report of the 2021-2022 AAC outlines the work of the Committee through the spring of 2022. This 2022-2023 AAC report focuses on the work related to finalizing the COEPA educational outcomes, EPAs, preamble, and glossary and formally receiving approval from the AACP Board of Directors.

The AACP Academic Affairs Committee's Guidance for Use of the Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) for Pharmacy Graduates.

The 2021-2023 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) was charged with and completed the revision of the 2013 Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education Outcomes and the 2016 Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) statements for new pharmacy graduates. This work resulted in a new combined document, the Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) that was unanimously approved by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Board of Directors and was published in the Journal. The AAC was also charged with providing stakeholders with guidance about how to use the new COEPA document.

The AACP Academic Affairs Committee's Final 2022 Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) for Pharmacy Graduates to Replace 2013 CAPE and 2016 EPAs.

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Academic Affairs Committee was charged with revising both the 2013 Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Educational Outcomes (EOs) and the 2016 Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs). The Committee changed the document name from the CAPE outcomes to COEPA, (Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities) since the EOs and EPAs would now be housed together. A draft of the COEPA EOs and EPAs was released at the AACP July 2022 Annual meeting.

The intersectionality of professional and personal identity formation in a virtual pre-health pathway program.

Background And Purpose: To describe the development and implementation of professional and personal identity formation content in a virtual pre-health pathway program.

Educational Activity And Setting: Content within a six-week pre-health program for underrepresented and/or disadvantaged college students was redesigned to a virtual format with enhanced focus on professional and personal identity formation. Sessions on personal identity formation were also enhanced through a partnership with local mental health clinicians specializing in trauma-informed care and culturally relevant practices and strategies.

Recommendations and Next Steps For Competency-Based Pharmacy Education.

In July 2021, the chairs of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Council of Deans, Council of Faculties, and Council of Sections developed a task force to discuss potential ways to improve pharmacy education. The Competency-Based Education (CBE) Joint Task Force was created to explore the pros and cons of advancing a competency-based approach to pharmacy education (CBPE) and to determine ways to create more flexibility within pharmacy curricula to enable CBE. To achieve these goals, the Task Force systematically reviewed available resources and outlined the pros and cons of CBPE, best practices for implementation, strategies to minimize barriers, and recommendations on whether CBE should be implemented in pharmacy education.

"Put me in Coach!" Engaging Faculty to Form a Winning Assessment Team.

This commentary uses the metaphor of an athletic team model to provide guidance when managing a successful assessment committee and assessment processes. To become a winning team, a joint effort must be exerted by players, coaches, and the athletic director. The topics of developing a team of productive members, creating, and implementing an assessment plan, forming a positive culture, and establishing leadership are discussed.

A Multicenter Study Assessing Burnout and Work Engagement in Student Pharmacists and Faculty Members.

Objective: The objective of this study was to characterize work engagement and burnout as well as potential demographic factors associated with each student and faculty member at 2 pharmacy programs in the US.

Methods: A survey including the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9 (UWES-9) and a single-item burnout measure was conducted from April to May 2020. Demographic data including age range, gender, and other characteristics were also collected.