Objective: In hospitals, the most recent medical information paper delivered by the hospital pharmacy is essential for obtaining information about the newest therapies and/or avoiding adverse effects of medicines.  To improve the medical information paper (hereafter, Medical News), we investigated the dissemination of Medical News delivered monthly by the Pharmaceutical Department in Oami Hospital.
Methods: Questionnaires about Medical News were distributed to each occupational category working in Ohami Hospital, and collected during June and July 2010.
Results: Responses were obtained from 127, including 19 doctors (full-time and part-time).  Ninety (70.9%) knew about Medical News, and 75 (59.1%) had read it.  It was revealed that there were differences in the familiarity with to Medical News among job classifications, and articles described on the same Medical News.
Conclusion: It insufficient to satisfied to provide drug information as a one-way provision by Medical News; however, as there are differences in the information required for each job, it is difficult to deliver a large number of copies in the small-scale hospital.  Overlooking the most up-to-date information about medicine and medical devices can lead to serious problem.  We have to review the information and provide important and accurate drug information to the staff in our hospital.

PURPOSE: To establish a model of Japanese pharmacy students' learning motivation profile and investigate the effects of pharmaceutical practical training programs on their learning motivation. METHODS: The Science Motivation Questionnaire II was administered to pharmacy students in their 4th (before practical training), 5th (before practical training at clinical sites), and 6th (after all practical training) years of study at Josai International University in April, 2016. Factor analysis and multiple-group structural equation modeling were conducted for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 165 students participated. The learning motivation profile was modeled with 4 factors (intrinsic, career, self-determination, and grade motivation), and the most effective learning motivation was grade motivation. In the multiple-group analysis, the fit of the model with the data was acceptable, and the estimated mean value of the factor of ‘self-determination’ in the learning motivation profile increased after the practical training programs (P=0.048, Cohen's d=0.43). CONCLUSION: Practical training programs in a 6-year course were effective for increasing learning motivation, based on ‘self-determination’ among Japanese pharmacy students. The results suggest that practical training programs are meaningful not only for providing clinical experience but also for raising learning motivation.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Education ; Humans ; Learning* ; Motivation* ; Pharmacy* ; Statistics as Topic ; Students, Pharmacy*

For the purpose of pharmacists to be able to be more involved clinically, the pharmacy education system in Japan was revised in April 2006 and the term length of pharmacy education was extended from 4 years to 6 years.
The Japanese Society for Pharmacoepidemiology is deeply concerned about the new curriculum which will be adopted for the 6-year course, especially the handling of pharmacoepidemiology education. Two questionnaire surveys were sent to the dean of all schools of pharmacy to inquire whether they lecture pharmacoepidemiology and, if not, what study in pharmaceutical sciences would be most closely related to pharmacoepidemiology. The surveys were conducted just before and just after the introduction of the new system, in October 2005 and July 2007. The recovery of the first and second survey were 90% and 76%, respectively.
In the first survey only 17 universities (31%) had lectures on pharmacoepidemiology but in the second survey 31 universities (57%) did, and in 55% of these 31 universities the lecture was required. The result indicates that the understanding of professors of pharmacy school regarding the lecture have been gradually promoted and they feel that pharmacoepidemiology is going to be considered to be one of the essential lectures in pharmacy education in Japan. However, many responders indicated that pharmacoepidemiology was still an immature field of study and there are few appropriate textbooks and no teaching experts, and therefore, the society should take these matters into reconsideration.