The core curriculum of the pharmacy education model was revised in 2013 based on the “Basic competencies required of a pharmacist” that should be developed by graduation. Specific behavioral objectives to acquire include competency in “The ability to implement pharmacotherapeutic management”, which involves gaining the ability to understand patient information, prescription design and proposal, as well as pharmacotherapeutic assessment. In order to improve this ability, it is necessary for students to acquire basic knowledge about pathology, pharmacology, and pharmacotherapy and to integrate and apply this knowledge to patients in practice. We introduced an integrated program called “Integrated Clinical Pharmacy” for fifth-year students at Hokkaido Pharmaceutical University. In this program, students take an objective test on the basic knowledge of pathology, pharmacology, and pharmacotherapy and learn how to design pharmaceutical care plans using individual patient cases. A self-evaluation questionnaire survey about the ability to develop care plan was conducted on students who completed the program. Based on the objective test and self-evaluation questionnaire results, we studied whether basic knowledge was fully established and whether the ability to utilize this knowledge was acquired through this program. We found that although the ability to select an individual component of care plan did improve, this ability wasn’t correlated with the degree of basic knowledge, and performance in summarizing care plan did not improve. These results suggested that it is necessary to understand the connection between components of the care plan and strategies to focus on improving the ability to integrate basic knowledge.

The core curriculum of the pharmacy education model was revised in 2013 based on the “Basic competencies required of a pharmacist” that should be developed by graduation. Specific behavioral objectives to acquire include competency in “The ability to implement pharmacotherapeutic management”, which involves gaining the ability to understand patient information, prescription design and proposal, as well as pharmacotherapeutic assessment. In order to improve this ability, it is necessary for students to acquire basic knowledge about pathology, pharmacology, and pharmacotherapy and to integrate and apply this knowledge to patients in practice. We introduced an integrated program called “Integrated Clinical Pharmacy” for fifth-year students at Hokkaido Pharmaceutical University. In this program, students take an objective test on the basic knowledge of pathology, pharmacology, and pharmacotherapy and learn how to design pharmaceutical care plans using individual patient cases. A self-evaluation questionnaire survey about the ability to develop care plan was conducted on students who completed the program. Based on the objective test and self-evaluation questionnaire results, we studied whether basic knowledge was fully established and whether the ability to utilize this knowledge was acquired through this program. We found that although the ability to select an individual component of care plan did improve, this ability wasn’t correlated with the degree of basic knowledge, and performance in summarizing care plan did not improve. These results suggested that it is necessary to understand the connection between components of the care plan and strategies to focus on improving the ability to integrate basic knowledge.

The prevalence of seasonal allergic rhinitis (hereinafter “hay fever”) is increasing annually. While self-medication with over-the-counter (OTC) drugs is growing, some hay fever patients also use OTC drugs alongside medical visits. Issues arising from co-administration, such as excessive dosing and reduced quality of life (QOL) due to drowsiness, have been highlighted. However, no research has investigated the factors contributing to the concomitant use of prescribed and OTC drugs. Therefore, this study examined the following three patient groups: those using only prescribed drugs, those using only OTC drugs, and those using a combination of both. Initial analyses compared adherence, overuse extent, QOL (as measured by the Japanese Rhino-conjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire [JRQLQ]), treatment satisfaction, lifestyle habits, and health literacy (as measured by the Communicative and Critical Health Literacy Scale [CCHL]) among the groups. Subsequently, a multinomial logistic regression analysis focusing on combination users identified factors associated with co-administration. The results revealed that combination users exhibited lifestyle issues and lower QOL compared to those using prescribed or OTC drugs only, although differences in CCHL were not significant. Furthermore, co-administration was linked to social life-related JRQLQ and excessive usage during symptom onset. In conclusion, patients with hay fever should avoid the concurrent use of prescribed and OTC drugs. Co-administration may not necessarily improve symptoms and might even lead to overuse risks. Thus, patients should be guided to consult medical professionals before purchasing OTC drugs, and lifestyle improvements should be emphasized as well.

Background: To obtain suggestions regarding the methods of cooperative learning in basic nursing education, the nursing students' perceptions of cooperative learning and the relationship between such perceptions and their influencing factors were elucidated.Methods: Anonymous, self-administered questionnaires were conducted among 131 nursing students at University A in the Chubu region of Japan.Results: Binomial logistic regression confirmed that cooperative learning experiences in high school, learning satisfaction at University A, social support, styles of handling interpersonal conflicts, and undervaluing others in regard to assumed competence were significant influencing factors on the cooperative work recognition scale.Discussion: Factors, including professional identity, communication ability and students' past negative experiences, may have an effect on the recognition of cooperative work. This suggests the need for the continued investigation of the aspects of cooperative learning that take these factors into account.