BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Pharmacists are in a unique position to provide important medication information, prevent errors, and help improve patient outcomes. Patient medication counseling (PMC) is integral in medication therapy management of pharmacists. Students perceive PMC as an important step in ensuring the most appropriate pharmacotherapy for the patients and as an essential component of drug management. The objective of the study is to describe the students’ perceptions on a university-led patient medication counseling program implemented in a patient medication counseling course.

The study employs a qualitative study design with a total population sampling of forty-two (42) Clin Pharm 176 BS Pharmacy students in a College of Pharmacy. A self-evaluation adapted from the United States Pharmacopeia medication counseling behavior guidelines (USP-MCBG) scale was performed which has with four components: needs assessment, precautions and warnings, management of the treatment, and communication. A synthesis session was conducted utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using measures of central tendency and thematic analysis.

Forty-two (42) students answered the USP-MCBG scale and participated in the synthesis session. Participants rated highest in communication (88.81±8.78) and lowest in treatment management (79.49±12.90) which suggests that the students were better equipped in displaying effective nonverbal behaviors and using appropriate language but were least confident in developing and managing treatment plans. There were five main domains on how the students evaluated the course and the PMC program which include pre-counseling session requirements, challenges in patient interaction, interprofessional collaboration, professional outlook, and program recommendations.

A university-led PMC program is effective in providing training for student pharmacists to identify and provide recommendations on medication therapy problems, and to practice interprofessional collaboration. It is recommended to continue the student training in the PMC program and to integrate this in the student internship program to evaluate the skills development of students during their clinical rotations.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Smoking cessation campaigns aim to raise awareness on the dangers of tobacco use and provide help for successful abstinence. Fourth year students of the UP College of Pharmacy implemented activities to promote smoking cessation among patients and clients at a tertiary government hospital. This paper aimed to describe the students' experiences on their project at the hospital during their Hospital Pharmacy course. Key learnings, challenges, and recommendations for the project's improvement, as well as their perceptions on current smoking cessation programs of the government were, likewise, determined.

METHODS: The students' activities were documented and described. A descriptive quantitative design using a self-administered online questionnaire was used to determine challenges, key learnings, and recommendations while content analysis was applied on open-ended questions to determine the frequency of responses in common themes identified. Perceptions on current smoking cessation campaigns were also summarized using frequency statistics.

RESULTS: The five approved projects implemented by the students were (1) setting up of smoking cessation booths, (2) display of posters within the hospital premises, (3) distribution of leaflets and reading materials, (4) playing of smoking cessation campaign videos, and (5) the creation of a social media page. Most of the students were challenged in scheduling and delegation of tasks (81.4%) and delays in project implementation (57.6%). They also realized the difficulty of stopping smoking (74.6%) and that it has various root causes (72.9%) that need to be addressed. To improve the project, students recommended collaborations with the hospital (79.7%) and the Department of Health (84.7%) to further smoking cessation programs. Lastly, they perceived that the current smoking cessation program is inadequate or underutilized.

CONCLUSION: Smoking cessation programs require a multi-sectoral approach to be effective and sustainable, and students can be active partners in their implementation. Pharmacy student smoking cessation-led activities can complement government programs on smoking cessation. Moreover, students can apply what they have learned about smoking cessation while preparing them for their future role as pharmacist-counsellors.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate how interprofessional education has been designed, implemented, and evaluated in undergraduate programs in nursing through a systematic review. METHODS: The literature was searched using the PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Cochrane central databases to identify interventional studies including teaching-learning activities among nursing students and other disciplines in English between January 2000 and May 2017. Thirty studies were selected for the analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-four studies out of 30 were designed as a pre-post, no control group, quasi-experimental study design. Interprofessional education learners were primarily engaged in medicine, physical therapy, dentistry, occupational therapy, pharmacy, and respiratory therapy. Patient care related activity was the most frequently selected topic and simulation was the most common teaching-learning method. Evaluation of learning outcomes was mainly based on the aspects of teams and collaboration, professional identity, roles and responsibilities, patient care, and communication skills. Nursing students in 26 out of the 30 reviewed studies were found to benefit from interprofessional education, with outcome effects primarily related to changes in learning outcomes. CONCLUSION: The development and integration of interprofessional education with collaborative practices may offer opportunities in nursing education for training professional nurses of the future.
Cooperative Behavior ; Education* ; Education, Nursing ; Humans ; Interprofessional Relations ; Learning ; Methods ; Non-Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Nursing* ; Occupational Dentistry ; Patient Care ; Pharmacy ; Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine ; Respiratory Therapy ; Students, Nursing*

OBJECTIVE: As the demands of healthcare environment change, it is necessary to advance human health care by improving students' essential competencies including knowledge, skills, abilities, inter-professional collaboration and patient centered care. This study identified long term accomplishment and improvement of the essential competencies in clinical pharmacy practice education (CPPE) at Korean hospitals over time. METHODS: This study was conducted for pharmacy students who completed CPPE evaluation related to tertiary hospitals and secondary hospitals located in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do regional area from 2014 to 2018. RESULTS: Over the past 5 years, overall results of student evaluation on the essential competencies in CPPE at both tertiary and secondary hospitals showed a decreasing trend or did not change. Essential competency in CPPE at tertiary hospitals had been identified as superior on ‘Learn clinical knowledge in the treatment of diseases’ to secondary hospitals [average number of students (%): 210 (72.9%) vs 68 (68.0%)]. On the other hand, essential competencies in CPPE at secondary hospitals had been identified as better at ‘inter-professionals collaborative teamwork and direct patient care’ than tertiary hospitals [average number of students (%): 64 (64.0%) and 56 (56.0%) vs 121 (42.0%) and 90 (31.3%)]. A total of 176 (61.1%) students in tertiary hospitals and 66 (66.0%) in secondary hospitals evaluated that ‘patient-centered care’ education was good. CONCLUSION: In tertiary hospitals, all six essential competency outcomes have not been improved, whereas four essential competency outcomes showed an increasing trend in secondary hospitals. It will be necessary to develop outcome-based CPPE education program to better reflect the essential competencies.
Cooperative Behavior ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Hand ; Humans ; Patient-Centered Care ; Pharmacy* ; Seoul* ; Students, Pharmacy ; Tertiary Care Centers

Since the World Health Organization identified interprofessional education (IPE) as an important component in primary health care in the 1980s, medical and health sciences educators have continued to debate factors for implementing effective IPE in the classroom. Although IPE research is widespread internationally, few studies have been done in South Korea. This study explored the current status of IPE and examined factors that influence IPE in South Korea. A total of 30 (70%) out of 41 medical education experts in medical schools participated. Forty-seven percent of the participants reported that they allocated less than 5% of their time implementing IPE in the curriculum of their schools throughout the 4 years of medical school. Although all experts (100%) agreed that IPE is essential for medical students, they expressed practical difficulties in implementing IPE in the current education system. Factors that influence IPE are scheduling and curriculum (e.g., rigid curriculum vs. providing learning environment) and attitudes (e.g., lack of reciprocal respect vs. willingness to change). In addition, participants reported that communication skills and collaborative practice employing clinical practice or role-playing would be appropriate education methods and content for IPE in the future. The findings of this study provide a foundation for the implementation of IPE in South Korea. Future research directions for IPE in medical, nursing, and pharmacy schools are discussed.
Cooperative Behavior ; Curriculum ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Humans ; Interprofessional Relations ; Korea ; Learning ; Nursing ; Primary Health Care ; Professionalism ; Schools, Medical ; Schools, Pharmacy ; Students, Medical ; World Health Organization

Community pharmacies in Nepal and other South Asian countries are in a mediocre state due to poor regulation and the fact that many pharmacies are run by people with insufficient training in dispensing. This has led to the inappropriate use of medicines. The problems due to poor regulation and the mediocre state of community pharmacies in South Asia encompass both academia and clinical practice. In this paper, a 2-week community pharmacy internship programme completed by 2 graduating pharmacy students of Pokhara University (a Nepalese public university) at Sankalpa Pharmacy, Pokhara, Nepal is illustrated. During the internship, they were systematically trained on store management, pharmaceutical care, counselling skills, the use of medical devices, pharmaceutical business plans, medicine information sources, and adverse drug reaction reporting. An orientation, observations and hands-on training, case presentation, discussion, and feedback from 2 senior pharmacists were used as the training method. A proper community pharmacy internship format, good pharmacy practice standards, and a better work environment for pharmacists may improve the quality of community pharmacies.
Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Commerce ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Education, Pharmacy ; Humans ; Internship and Residency* ; Methods ; Nepal* ; Pharmaceutical Services ; Pharmacies* ; Pharmacists ; Pharmacy* ; Students, Pharmacy*

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to assess the current status of experiential education, by analyzing pharmacy students' satisfaction and evaluation for practice sites and preceptors for 3 years from 2014 through 2016. METHODS: Students evaluated the practice sites and preceptors using a 5-point and a 4-point Likert scale, respectively. Analysis was performed based on the types of curriculums and practice sites. In addition, sub-analysis was conducted based on the types of health-system pharmacy and the community pharmacy. RESULTS: Total 203 students responded to the survey questionnaires. The 3-year average score of students' satisfaction with practice sites was 4.25. In the sub-analysis conducted based on the types of health-system pharmacy, the score was higher in the tertiary hospital pharmacies than that of the general hospital pharmacies (4.49 vs. 4.06, P<0.001). For community pharmacy, the difference in the score of the 3-year analysis was not significant, depending on the types (4.51 vs. 4.33, P=0.054). The average score of students' evaluation on the preceptors was 3.37 in the 3-year analysis. The score was significantly higher for the preceptors of tertiary hospital pharmacies than those of general hospital pharmacies (3.61 vs. 3.25, P<0.001). For community pharmacy, no significant differences were found, depending on the types of pharmacy (3.53 vs. 3.43, P=0.309). CONCLUSION: The students' satisfaction with practice sites and preceptors in pharmacy experiential education was high. However, it varied greatly depending on the types of educational institutions. Mutual effort between university and educational institutions is required, to narrow the gap in the degree of students' satisfaction.
Curriculum ; Education* ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Pharmacies ; Pharmacy* ; Students, Pharmacy ; Tertiary Care Centers

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*

Experiential education is a core curriculum of pharmacy education. In experiential education, formative feedback is an integral component of learning and teaching process. Feedback is defined as information provided by a preceptor regarding student's performance based on direct observation. With effective feedback, students can have opportunities to reinforce or correct behaviors and to acquire knowledge or skills. Students highly value and appreciate feedback. They rank provision of effective feedback as one of the most important qualities of preceptors. Preceptors, however, lack an understanding of feedback or practical skills necessary for providing effective feedback. As a result in reality, the feedback provided to students can be differentially effective in improving students' learning. This article describes a theoretical understanding of feedback including definition and value, as well as types of feedback. In addition, practical aspects in providing feedback, such as contents, timing, techniques, and models, are addressed. By understanding the value of feedback and mastering various feedback skills, preceptors will promote students' learning and enhance educational outcomes of experiential education.
Curriculum ; Education* ; Education, Pharmacy ; Formative Feedback ; Humans ; Learning ; Pharmacy* ; Students, Pharmacy

Experiential education is a core curriculum of 6-year pharmacy education. Practicing pharmacists lie at the heart of experiential education serving as preceptors for undergraduate pharmacy students during experiential education. Preceptors are, however, confronted with a challenge of caring for patients and teaching students at the same time in a time-constrained environment. To improve the effectiveness and outcomes of experiential education, practicing pharmacists are required to demonstrate educational competence. Even small teaching moments can provide students with valuable learning opportunities that they could not have from on their own. Thus, it is vital to provide education and training for preceptors to advance their teaching skills. This article will describe practical and effective teaching skills that preceptors could adopt in the experiential education for pharmacy students. It is important that preceptors should use different teaching skills for different learners, according to their level of experience and knowledge, learning styles and needs, as well as the type of the practice. Therefore, possessing diverse teaching skills provides flexibility to adapt teaching to each student's learning levels and needs, and to the charateristics of the practice environment. Preceptors' level of confidence and comfort in using teaching skills can be enhanced through continuous practice and training, which consequently leads to the improved effectiveness of experiential education and student's satisfaction with the education.
Curriculum ; Education* ; Education, Pharmacy ; Heart ; Humans ; Learning ; Mental Competency ; Pharmacists ; Pharmacy* ; Pliability ; Students, Pharmacy