INNOVATIONS in pharmacy (Iip - E-Journal)
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African-American and Latina Women Seeking Public Health Services: Cultural Beliefs regarding Pregnancy, including Medication-taking Behavior
Get PDFObjective: to describe cultural beliefs and medication-taking-behavior about pregnancy in African-American and Latina women.
Design: qualitative study using phenomenological methodology; face-to-face, semi structured interviews and focus group. Thematic analysis was done to obtain themes consistent with the research objective.
Setting: Maricopa County, Arizona, Department of Public-health Programs, November 2008 through April 2009.
Participants: women seeking public-health services in the greater Phoenix, Arizona.
Results: fifteen adult women representing two ethnic groups (seven African-Americans and eight Latinas) participated. Themes derived from the interview data included: "The Dilemma: To Become or Not to Become Pregnant;" "The Ideal Stress-free World: Support System;" "Changing Worlds: Wanting Dependency;" and "The Health care System: Disconnection from Pregnancy to Postpartum."
Conclusions: based on the cultural themes: 1. pregnancies were not planned; 2. healthy life-style changes were not likely to occur during pregnancy; 3. basic facts about the biology of sexual intercourse and pregnancy were not understood, and there was no usage of any preconceptional or prenatal medications; and 4. professional health care was not desired or considered necessary (except during delivery). These cultural beliefs can contribute to negative birth outcomes, and need to be considered by pharmacists and other health-care providers. The information gained from this study can guide the implementation of educational programs developed by pharmacists that are more sensitive to the cultural beliefs and points of view of these particular women. Such programs would thus be more likely to be favorably received and utilized.
Type: Original Researc
Clinical Pharmacy Clerkship in Pakistan: A leap from paper to practice
Get PDFThis is the first article of its type to describe the advances taking place in clinical pharmacy education in Pakistan. The Pharmacy Council of Pakistan has developed a five-year Pharm.D program to replace the four-year B.Pharm degree. Completing clinical pharmacy clerkships is a prerequisite for receiving the Pharm.D degree. To meet this requirement, Ziauddin College of Pharmacy has developed a specialized clerkship program for its 4th and 5th year students. The College is fortunate to be linked with well developed tertiary care hospitals at three prime locations in the in the metropolitan city of Karachi, which provides opportunity for the students to gain exposure to real life situations and work with patients. The article presents an account of the efforts taken for development of the clinical pharmacy clerkship program, the problems encountered during its development, and the main outcomes of a clerkship program.
Type: Not
Building a Community of Scholars in Educational Research: A Case Study for Success
Get PDFObjective: To present the model of the Education Research/Scholarship of Teaching Community of Scholarship (EdCOS) as one Community of Scholars (COS) within a department of pharmacy.
Case Study: A case study describing the Education Research/Scholarship of Teaching Community of Scholars (EdCOS). Faculty members were self-selected into one or more of eight COS. The EdCOS was comprised of 14 members. The EdCOS developed a vision statement to "foster and support a learning culture that enables faculty to capture and evaluate teaching and learning experiences." The process by which the EdCOS set out to initiate this COS will be discussed. Since its inception all members of the EdCOS have become IRB Certified. Through a combined project, members had the opportunity to develop, learn, and acquire experience in areas of conducting research from the conception of a project through final submission of the manuscript. Departmental publications and grant funding increased over the years after the implementation of the COS.
Conclusion: Although cause and effect cannot be explicitly determined, the EdCOS has had a positive impact on its members building confidence, experience, and ideas for future projects.
Type: Idea Pape
The Pharm.D. in Pakistan: A Curricular Innovation in Health Systems Instruction
Get PDFThe Pharm.D. in Pakistan: A Curricular Innovation in Health Systems Instructio
A Description of Medication Therapy Management Services in Minnesota
Get PDFObjective: To describe Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services in Minnesota, quantifying how many patient encounters occur per week and compiling provider and practice site characteristics. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Minnesota practice sites surveyed in June and July 2010. Participants: MTM providers in Minnesota who are registered users of the Assurance™ documentation system or are members of the Minnesota Pharmacists Association MTM Academy. Intervention: Self-administered online questionnaire completed by study participants. Main Outcome Measures: The number of patient encounters per week, practice site location, practitioner length of time as a MTM service provider, and the motivating factors for providing direct patient care services. Results: There were 56 respondents, reporting a median of 5 MTM patient encounters per week (range 0 to 35) and a median length of service of 4 years (range15). Clinic-based practices were reported by 66% of providers and community pharmacy-based practices by 30%. Eighty-five percent practice in an urban setting, 9% in a large rural town and 6% in a small rural town. Nearly half (46%) of providers are the sole practitioner at their site. The most commonly cited motivation for providing direct patient care services was to improve patient outcomes. Conclusion: MTM service providers in Minnesota were more likely to report practicing in an urban area and in a clinic. Many practices were low-volume or newly established, with half of all respondents reporting 5 or fewer MTM patient encounters per week and a length of service of four years or less.
Type: Student Projec
Association Between Student Loan Debt on Graduation, Demographic Characteristics and Initial Choice of Practice Setting of Pharmacists
Get PDFObjectives: (1) To examine trends in level of student loan indebtedness for groups of pharmacists that were first licensed between 1980 and 2006; (2) To examine if demographic variables are associated with level of student loan indebtedness; (3) To examine the association between student loan debt and choice of practice setting while controlling for demographic variables.
Methods: Data for this study were collected from a national random sample of 3,000 pharmacists using a self administered survey. Descriptive statistics were used to examine trends in level of indebtedness. The relationships between level of indebtedness, demographic variables and practice setting choice were examined using Chi-square statistics. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the independent association of student loan debt and choice of practice setting while controlling for demographic variables.
Results: The proportion of licensed pharmacists reporting student loan debt after graduation, and the mean amount of debt incurred increased between 1980 and 2006. Non-white pharmacists incurred debt at a higher proportion compared to white, and they also incurred significantly higher levels of debt. A lower level of indebtedness was associated with choosing independent practice over chain practice.
Conclusions: Student loan indebtedness has been increasing over time, especially for non-white pharmacy students. Future research should be done to examine other factors that might influence student debt load, work contributions and choice of practice settings. The affordability of pharmacy education for students of color and how salaries may or may not help off-set these costs also should be examined closely.
Type: Original Researc
Over-the-Counter Medication Use, Perceived Safety, and Decision-Making Behaviors in Pregnant Women
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to determine which over-the-counter (OTC) medications women are using during pregnancy, and to assess patients' perceived safety of these medications. In addition, the decision-making process utilized by pregnant women when choosing OTC drug therapy was explored, including sources of information and recommendation.
The subjects included pregnant women 18 years and older. Subjects were solicited as a convenience sample by providing surveys in two urban women's clinic waiting rooms. Of the 61 respondents, 96.3% had used an OTC medication, herbal, or vitamin during their current pregnancy. The most common products included prenatal vitamins, acetaminophen, cough drops, antacids, calcium, vitamin D, and DHA. The majority of women surveyed regarded over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and herbals as "safe, but would talk to a healthcare professional before using." The most utilized sources of drug information during pregnancy were a physician (68.9%), midwife (55.7%), and the Internet (44.3%). There were an equal number of respondents obtaining general OTC information from a pharmacist as from their family and friends (26.2%).
Almost all subjects had used an over-the-counter medication during their pregnancy and the majority considered OTCs safe after first consulting a healthcare professional. Although a high percentage of subjects have obtained their information and recommendations from healthcare professionals, a very small proportion of subjects had utilized a pharmacist as a resource. Being drug experts and easily accessible members of the healthcare team, pharmacists have a responsibility to aid the obstetric population in the appropriate and safe use of over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and herbals during pregnancy.
Type: Student Projec