Clinical Pharmacy Faculty Research Articles

Exploration of Collaborative Innovation Pathways in the Development of Clinical Pharmacy Faculty Teams

Objective: To explore the collaborative innovation pathways for the development of clinical pharmacy faculty teams. Methods: Taking clinical pharmacy faculty in Shaanxi Province as the research subjects, the study investigates their current status and identifies existing issues. Based on these findings, collaborative innovation pathways for building clinical pharmacy faculty teams are proposed. The pathways are then implemented and evaluated to determine the final approach. Results: The proposed pathways include the establishment of collaborative bases for clinical pharmacy talent training, the creation of an internal mechanism for the collaborative development of clinical pharmacy faculty across multiple units, the development of a faculty training mechanism for instructors at clinical pharmacy internship bases, and the establishment of a collaborative incentive and competition mechanism combining universities and hospitals. Conclusion: This collaborative pathway meets the urgent needs of resource sharing, complementary strengths, cooperative problem-solving, and collaborative innovation. It aims to improve teaching quality and cultivate clinical pharmacy talents for society.

The impact of Saudi Arabia – United States clinical pharmacy post-graduate training programs agreements on clinical pharmacy faculty in Saudi universities: A retrospective descriptive study focused on history and future recommendations

BackgroundThere has been a growing demand for clinical pharmacy services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in the past 3 decades. The Ministry of Education has established agreements with several institutions in the United States to secure clinical pharmacy residency and research fellowship programs opportunities for Saudi scholars. The aims of this study were to describe the Saudi scholars’ clinical pharmacy training pathways and their contribution to the pharmacy profession in KSA. MethodsThis is a retrospective, descriptive study conducted on clinical pharmacy faculty in governmental Saudi universities who graduated from the US until 2023. The study outcomes included the post-graduate year-1 (PGY-1) residency match rate, post-graduate year-2 (PGY-2) acceptance rate, the PGY-2 specialties of Saudi scholars, and the number of clinical pharmacy programs established in KSA. ResultsIn total, 115 Saudi scholars have pursued clinical pharmacy pathway in the US. The PGY-1 residency match rate was 80 % (92/115). In contrast, the PGY-2 acceptance rate was 60.9 % (70/115). The most common PGY-2 specialty was in infectious diseases (N = 17; 24 %). Two pharmacy colleges had established residency programs and 1 pharmacy college had established a research fellowship. ConclusionThe Ministry of Education's efforts for clinical pharmacy program agreements were fundamental for advancing clinical pharmacy in Saudi universities. A significant number of Saudi scholars returned to KSA with clinical pharmacy degrees. There are more opportunities for further development, including expanding the clinical pharmacy program collaboration in the US and increasing the number of residency and research fellowship positions in KSA.

Clinical Pharmacy Faculty Provision of Direct Patient Care, Challenges, and Opportunities.

The quadripartite mission of clinical track faculty members involves research, teaching, services, and direct patient care. However, the extent of faculty involvement in direct patient care remains a challenge. Thus, the study's objective is to evaluate the effort spent on direct patient care by clinical faculty of pharmacy schools in Saudi Arabia (S.A.) and identify factors that hinder or facilitate providing direct patient care services. This multi-institutional, cross-sectional questionnaire study conducted between July 2021 and March 2022 involved several pharmacy schools' clinical pharmacy faculty members in S.A. The primary outcome was the percentage of time/effort spent on patient care services and other academic responsibilities. The secondary outcomes were the factors affecting the effort spent on direct patient care and the barriers preventing the provision of clinical services. A total of 44 faculty members took the survey. The percentage of effort spent on clinical education was highest at a median (IQR) of 37.5 (30, 50), followed by that spent on patient care [19 (10, 28.75)]. The percentages of effort spent on education and the length of academic experience were negatively associated with efforts spent on direct patient care. The most commonly reported barrier affecting fulfilling patient care duties was the lack of a clear practice policy (68%). Although most clinical pharmacy faculty members were involved in direct patient care, half of them devoted only 20% or less of their time to it. An effective effort allocation for clinical faculty duties will require the development of a clinical faculty workload model that sets realistic expectations about the time spent on clinical and non-clinical duties.

A Multimedia Evaluation of Pharmacy Faculty PowerPoint Slides in a Critical Care Course

ObjectivesTo conduct a pilot investigation about the alignment between didactic multimedia materials utilized by pharmacy faculty, with Mayer's Principles for Multimedia Learning and faculty characteristics associated with greater alignment. MethodsAn investigatory systematic process was used which included a modified Learning Object Review Instrument (LORI) to evaluate the faculty video-recorded lectures for alignment with Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia Learning, hence capturing the number and type of misalignments. Correlations were performed to evaluate the association between faculty characteristics; and ratings and proportions of misalignments. ResultsFive hundred fifty-five PowerPoint slides of 13 lectures from 13 faculty members were reviewed. The average (SD) LORI score per slide was 4.44 (0.84) out of 5 with an average score per lecture ranging from 3.83 (0.96) to 4.95 (0.53). Across all lecture slides, misalignments with multimedia principles were captured in 20.2% of slides. For each lecture, the average percentage of misalignments was 27.6% ranging from 0% to 49%. Principal misalignments included violation of the principles of coherence (66.1%), signaling (15.2%), and segmenting (8%). No faculty characteristics were significantly associated with LORI ratings or proportion of misalignments within lectures. ConclusionsFaculty had high LORI ratings for their multimedia material but these varied significantly between lectures. Misalignments with multimedia principles were identified and were related primarily to extraneous processing. These misalignments, when addressed, have the potential to improve learning, thus suggesting an opportunity for the faculty to develop ways to optimize multimedia educational delivery. Future investigation is needed to clarify how clinical pharmacy faculty can develop multimedia material and the impact of faculty development on the application of multimedia principles and learning outcomes.

The Report of the 2021-2022 Professional Affairs Standing Committee: Resource Guide for the Integration of Clinical Pharmacy Faculty in Professional Practice Settings

The 2021-22 Professional Affairs Committee was charged to (1) Develop a resource guide for member institutions and faculty regarding payment for the practice-related activities of pharmacy faculty; (2) Nominate at least one person for an elected AACP or Council Office; and (3) Consider ways that AACP can improve its financial health. This report describes the methodology and content utilized for the development of an online resource guide for member institutions, faculty, and practice sites regarding the integration of clinical faculties' patient care services into patient care settings, including models for payment and value-based payment structures that can be utilized to support the practice-related activities of faculty. The committee offers a revision to a current association policy statement, a proposed policy statement as well as recommendations to AACP and suggestions to colleges and schools of pharmacy pertaining to the committee charges.

Knowledge and Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Among Pharmacy and Clinical Nutrition Students at King Saud University.

BackgroundInterprofessional education (IPE) in healthcare specialties is important to optimize patient outcomes and shape professional image toward teamwork and collaboration among healthcare professionals. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of IPE on pharmacy and clinical nutrition students’ knowledge in food–drug interactions and readiness for interprofessional learning.MethodsThis pre-post study was conducted at King Saud University between February and March 2020. We held an interprofessional workshop for pharmacy and clinical nutrition students. After we introduced the faculty members who would deliver the food–drug interactions session, the students took a seven-question quiz (total score = 7) to assess their knowledge about the basic concept of food–drug interactions before the session. After that, a 45-minute lecture was provided by a clinical pharmacy faculty member. Students from both disciplines worked on three clinical scenarios. After completing the assigned scenarios, the students retook the quiz to assess their knowledge after the workshop. In addition, student readiness was assessed using the 19-item Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS).ResultsA total of 48 students were included in this study. Overall, students’ mean scores in both colleges significantly increased after the workshop (p < 0.01). The mean RIPLS total scores (SD) for pharmacy students and clinical nutrition students were 80.6 (7.48) and 81.26 (6.96), respectively, out of a maximum possible score of 95. These scores indicated positive attitudes toward interprofessional learning in both groups.ConclusionPharmacy and clinical nutrition students’ knowledge regarding food–drug interaction improved after implementing the IPE session. Students also reported higher scores for interprofessional learning. This indicates their willingness to participate in future interprofessional learning activities. Roles and responsibilities domain scores were slightly lower among both groups. Simulation-based activities including profession role exchange can be added to traditional IPE sessions to improve this domain.

Building a Medical Family: Family Sculpting in Graduate Medical Education

Introduction: Family sculpting has been used as a clinical technique for decades within the psychotherapy community to uncover, process, and improve upon the implicit patterns of interaction and communication that permeate the lives of family members. However, even though this technique has been broadly applied to various couple and family populations within the clinical practice of family therapy, its application has essentially been non-existent outside of this venue.&#x0D; Method: The following article describes the utilization of family sculpting as a bonding technique for a group of family medicine and clinical pharmacy residents, faculty physicians, and upper administration during a yearly organizational retreat.&#x0D; Results: Not only was the technique well received by the healthcare team as a whole, as evidenced by a post retreat survey, there were also several noteworthy examples of the sculpting process highlighting and addressing relational tension within the residency cohort (i.e., second year medical resident) and within administration (i.e., chief executive officer) that ultimately lead to greater team cohesion afterwards.&#x0D; Discussion: While the application of the technique in a medical/educational context can be considered a unique contribution of the article, more so are the specific augmentations made to the technique itself that increases its value as an academic and organizational development tool.

Scholarly maturation and other factors supporting publishing productivity in educational scholarship for clinical faculty

IntroductionIn order to advance curricula and faculty career progression, it would be helpful to increase publishing success and productivity in educational scholarship. The objective of this study was to describe the key factors and strategies that contribute to publishing success and productivity in the publication of educational scholarship by clinical pharmacy faculty. MethodsParticipants were identified from 2007 to 2016 PubMed and Science Direct publication records or by having received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Emerging Teaching Scholars Award. Participants were required to have an active clinical practice and not have administrative positions or doctor of philosophy training. Qualitative data were gathered through dyadic and individual interviews and analyzed to identify core factors contributing to publishing success and productivity. ResultsNine clinical pharmacy faculty participated in dyadic or individual interviews, including seven associate professors and two professors. Participants' teaching and learning publications covered two to 13 topic areas, and participants had 20 to 70 unique co-authors. Five core factors and 17 strategies were identified as supporting publishing success and productivity in educational scholarship. The five factors included inputs/assets, the team, the project, the process, and scholarly maturation. ConclusionsParticipants' responses confirm some conceptions, while also disputing common misconceptions that may discourage clinical faculty from pursuing educational scholarship. Fundamental research skill development is required in educational scholarship as in other scholarly areas. In addition, the roles of team building, receiving and providing mentorship, and the development of small significant networks merit further investigation as assets to productivity.

Rubric Assessment for Pharmacotherapy in Spiral Curriculum: Development and Usefulness Evaluation

A requirement, which students must satisfy, for a diploma at the Showa University School of Pharmacy is the ability to "plan, practice, and assess pharmacotherapy". To continuously assess the ability of students to meet this requirement and to provide patients with proper pharmacotherapy during student clinical rotations, we formulated the "Rubric assessment for pharmacotherapy" and evaluated its usefulness in tutorial learning classes. Clinical pharmacy faculty members created the rubric based on the Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan (SOAP) note guidelines of the university. Third- (2016) and fourth-year students (2017) were required to self-assess their SOAP notes to analyze six clinical cases using the rubric. The rubric consists of three domains: (1) Evaluation of patient condition, (2) Proposal of pharmacotherapy, and (3) Plan for an assessment of pharmacotherapy. The rubric comprises 31 subdomains and is evaluated according to four levels of performance. In this study, 978 rubric sheets that were used by students to evaluate their own SOAP notes were analyzed. We found that the students were able to continuously self-assess their performance using the rubric while continuously improving their achievement level (p<0.05). The results of this study suggest that rubric assessments may be used as a tool for supporting students to plan, practice, and assess pharmacotherapy.

A Program to Prepare Clinical Pharmacy Faculty Members to Use Entrustable Professional Activities in Experiential Education

Objective. To describe the design and evaluation of a program implemented to ready clinical faculty members to use entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for teaching and assessment in experiential education. Methods. The school adopted a set of EPAs for faculty members to implement in advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs), and then delivered a two-session faculty development program to ensure faculty members' readiness to implement the EPAs. To determine the success of the faculty development program, qualitative analysis of the moderated discussion held during the program was conducted, post-program and follow-up surveys were administered, and the results of the pilot implementation of EPAs were analyzed. Results. Eleven faculty members participated in the development program, and 10 of them completed the pilot implementation of EPAs and the follow-up survey after completing three APPE blocks. All faculty members responded that the program prepared them to apply what they learned about EPAs to their practice setting in both the post-program and follow-up surveys. In the follow-up survey, 80% of faculty members reported that they were confident in correctly applying what they learned from the program to the EPA pilot, and 100% answered a hypothetical application question correctly. Forty students participated in the pilot implementation of EPAs. Of these, 95% were directly observed by faculty members before making an entrustment decision, and 100% received feedback on their performance. Conclusion. The faculty development program was effective in preparing faculty members to implement the EPA framework in experiential teaching and use the entrustment rubric.

Diabetes-Related Patient Outcomes through Comprehensive Medication Management Delivered by Clinical Pharmacists in a Rural Family Medicine Clinic.

Two clinical pharmacy faculty members from a college of pharmacy provide comprehensive medication management in a rural family medicine clinic. The data was assessed for patients with diabetes managed by the pharmacists from 1 January 2017 through to 31 December 2019 to determine the service’s impact on patient outcomes. The primary outcome of this study is the change in the goal attainment rates of the three clinical goals of hemoglobin A1c, blood pressure, and appropriate statin therapy after pharmacist intervention. A total of 207 patients were included. At baseline, the patients had an average of 1.13 of the three goals met, improving to an average of 2.02 goals met after pharmacist intervention (p < 0.001). At baseline, 4.8% of the patients had met all three clinical goals, improving to 30.9% after pharmacist intervention (p < 0.001). There were significant improvements for the individual goal attainment rates of hemoglobin A1c (24.15% vs. 51.21%, p < 0.001), blood pressure (42.51% vs. 85.51%, p < 0.001), and appropriate statin therapy (45.89% vs. 65.70%, p < 0.001). This data adds to the evidence supporting the integration of clinical pharmacists into primary care clinics to improve patient outcomes related to diabetes.

Combating pharmacist burnout: A model for critical care clinical pharmacy faculty

AbstractBurnout is a growing phenomenon among health care professionals in whom the prevalence has been estimated at greater than 50%. The adverse outcomes of burnout affect individuals, institutions, and patients. Although burnout literature in the profession of pharmacy is somewhat lacking, emerging data suggest a similar prevalence. Pharmacists who experience burnout typically suffer from emotional exhaustion and/or a reduced sense of personal accomplishment. The critical care setting introduces several elements that increase the risk of burnout in health care providers, including pharmacists, who practice in this area prompting professional organizations to call for action to address burnout. Critical care pharmacists with faculty appointments have additional responsibilities that may precipitate burnout. In response to anecdotal symptoms of burnout, four critical care pharmacy faculty members at the University of Illinois at Chicago developed and implemented an off‐service rotation model designed to provide clinical track faculty members protected, off‐service time to fully engage in academic responsibilities utilizing a tenured clinical faculty member, and a rotating schedule of clinical coverage to assure continuity in patient care in each of the areas (medical intensive care unit, cardiac care unit, and emergency department). Compared with the 24 months prior to implementation, academic output increased during the 24‐month period following implementation of the model. Importantly, there was no evidence of burnout from the personal accomplishment domain of the Maslach Burnout Inventory‐Health Services Survey for Medical Professionals, although high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were present.

Impact of pharmacist-led heart failure tool kits on patient-reported self-care behaviors in a primary care–based accountable care organization

ObjectiveThe goal of this project is to evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-led heart failure (HF) intervention, using an educational toolkit, on patient-reported self-care maintenance, management, and confidence at 30 days. SettingThree Accountable Care Organization (ACO) primary care provider offices in South Florida from January to March 2018. Practice descriptionEach primary care clinic was staffed with at least 1 physician, nurse practitioners, a clinical pharmacy faculty member, pharmacy residents and students, and ancillary staff. Pharmacists spent approximately 2 days per week in clinic. Practice innovationAt the time of this project, no formalized management program for HF patients existed within the clinics. An educational toolkit was designed, reviewed, and approved by the team of pharmacists and ACO providers before use within the clinics, and included educational material outlining common causes of HF exacerbation, symptoms of HF, symptom management strategies, medication action plan, self-management instructions, medication adherence tips, and a weight-management log sheet. EvaluationA prospective, pretest and posttest observational project was conducted at the 3 clinical sites for eligible patients. The Self-Care for Heart Failure Index (SCHFI, v.6.2) tool was used to evaluate self-care practices and adequacy of maintenance, management, and confidence at baseline as compared with 30 days. ResultsTwelve participants completed the initial interview and 30-day follow-up. SCHFI scores for self-maintenance (63–68, P = 0.04) and self-management (38–58, P = 0.01) significantly improved from baseline, whereas self-confidence scores showed an increase, but was not statistically significant (80–82, P = 0.58). All self-care behaviors saw a nonstatistically significant improvement in percentage of patients achieving adequacy. ConclusionPharmacists and educational toolkits in the ACO primary care setting may improve self-maintenance, self-management, and self-confidence behaviors in patients with HF.

A pharmacist-run anabolic osteoporosis clinic: An abaloparatide descriptive report

ObjectivesTo review the first-year experience of abaloparatide use in a pharmacist-run anabolic osteoporosis clinic. SettingThis ambulatory-care health system endocrinology practice consists of 10 board-certified endocrinologists and 6 nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Approximately 1200 patients are seen weekly. The practice is affiliated with the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and hosts 2 clinical pharmacy faculty members and a PGY-2 endocrinology pharmacy resident. A pharmacist-run teriparatide clinic was implemented in 2002. In 2017, the clinic was expanded to accept referrals for abaloparatide. No description of a pharmacist-run abaloparatide clinic has yet been reported. Practice descriptionPatients are referred to a clinical pharmacist for initiation and education of anabolic osteoporosis therapy. The pharmacist is responsible for assessing for contraindications to anabolic therapy, securing managed care coverage of an anabolic agent, and providing medication counseling. This pharmacist is available as a resource to patients throughout their course of anabolic osteoporosis therapy. Practice innovationThis is the first description of a pharmacist-run abaloparatide clinic. EvaluationNot applicable. ResultsDuring its first year of availability, 52 patients were referred for abaloparatide therapy. Of these, 31 patients (59.6%) initiated treatment. The population predominately consisted of postmenopausal white women. Approximately two-thirds of patients had a history of an osteoporosis-related fracture, and half of patients had previously received antiresorptive therapy for osteoporosis. Mean baseline T-scores for the lumbar spine and femoral neck were −2.41 and −2.57, respectively. Twenty-one patients did not initiate abaloparatide therapy owing to cost (9), concerns of therapy (8), or contraindication to therapy (4). An additional 5 patients discontinued abaloparatide therapy owing to adverse effects. ConclusionThis paper reviews the first-year experience of abaloparatide use in a pharmacist-run anabolic osteoporosis clinic. The fact that only 60% of referred patients initiated therapy indicates that significant barriers (e.g., high patient cost and safety concerns) remain.

An innovative, residency-based, interprofessional faculty development program.

The impact of an interprofessional faculty development fellowship (FDF) on pharmacy graduates' careers is described. The FDF instructional approach is a longitudinal acquisition and application of knowledge, skills, and attitudes fostered by clinical care delivery, teaching experiences, structured reflection, the giving and receiving of feedback, research and scholarly projects, and leadership development and exercises. Interprofessional FDF fellows teach, learn, and provide care together in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings as a part of the evidence-based medicine curriculum, providing educational sessions for medical students, pharmacy students, medical residents, attending family medicine physicians, and clinical pharmacy faculty throughout the year. Twenty-seven of the 30 pharmacist graduates of the fellowship (90% response rate) responded to an electronic survey about the influence of the FDF on their careers. Overall, pharmacy graduates were very satisfied with the fellowship. The fellowship fostered a clear pattern of continued, collaborative learning. While additional training beyond a pharmacy residency program is not necessary for a successful clinical career, 41% of graduates pursued additional training after completing the fellowship. Open-ended responses for motivations for completing the FDF and influences the FDF had on their careers fell unforced into the FDF curriculum domains, which reinforced the belief that these are the right areas to target for development. Pharmacy residents participated in a broad, interprofessional faculty development curriculum, which fostered teaching, scholarship, leadership, professional development, and clinical skills. Pharmacist graduates indicated that the experience significantly influenced their careers and professional development.

‘Still living independently’: Kosirog teaches older patient how to control diabetes

‘Still living independently’: Kosirog teaches older patient how to control diabetes

Balance of academic responsibilities of clinical track pharmacy faculty in the United States: a survey of select American College of Clinical Pharmacy Practice and Research Network Members.

To characterize the balance of clinical and academic responsibilities of clinical track pharmacy faculty in the United States and evaluate organizational structures that promote satisfactory balance between these responsibilities. Prospective cross-sectional survey. A 22-item online survey was developed and distributed via Qualtrics software. Clinical faculty members of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Adult Medicine, Ambulatory Care, Cardiology, Critical Care, Gastrointestinal/Liver/Nutrition, Immunology/Transplantation, Infectious Disease, and Pediatrics Practice and Research Networks (PRNs) were invited to participate via the PRN electronic mailing list. The survey comprised questions related to demographics, organizational structure, and balance of clinical and academic responsibilities. A total of 344 participants responded to some or all of the survey questions. The demographics were relatively equally balanced between faculty at state and private academic institutions, academic rank, and practice setting. Expected and actual effort allocations were similar for each of the clinical and academic responsibilities, with direct patient care and clinical teaching representing more than 50% effort allocation cumulatively. Clinical faculty at state institutions devoted a larger proportion of time to clinical service, whereas clinical faculty at private institutions devoted a greater proportion of time to didactic teaching. When asked about time constraints, 157 (69.8%) of the 225 survey participants responding to this question did not believe they had sufficient time to fulfill their nonclinical academic needs. Clinical faculty who were provided "protected time" away from clinical service had a significantly more favorable opinion of this question. Most of the clinical track pharmacy faculty indicated that they have insufficient time to fulfill their nonclinical academic responsibilities. Provision of protected time may alleviate some of these time constraints.

Blackwelder and Cross collaborate in family medicine clinic

When Brian Cross, PharmD, first went to work for the Indian Health Service (IHS) on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in eastern Arizona in 1991, he believed that the physician-pharmacist collaboration that he encountered there—a model pioneered by the IHS and a handful of other federal agencies and private health care systems—as common across the country.

Clinical Pharmacy Faculty Interventions in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: An Eight-Month Review

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society of Critical Care Medicine have documented the importance of pharmacist involvement in pediatric care. Numerous studies have reported the impact of clinical pharmacy interventions in various adult care settings. However, in the pediatric critical care setting, the impact has not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to describe clinical pharmacy faculty interventions in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). A pediatric clinical pharmacy faculty member performed and documented clinical interventions in a level I, 18-bed, tertiary care PICU. Information gathered included medication name, specific intervention performed, basic patient demographics, and length of stay from May to December 2009. During the study period, there were 893 interventions performed on 159 patients over 66 days of service. (Average of 5.5 interventions/patient, and 34 interventions/100 patient PICU days.) Dosing recommendations and pharmacokinetics were the most common type of intervention (28.8% and 21.4%, respectively). Antibiotics and sedatives/analgesia were the most common drug classes in which interventions were made (34.4% and 20.3%, respectively). Ninety-eight percent of all interventions were accepted by the medical staff. The estimated annual cost savings from these interventions was $119,700. The average number of interventions per patient in this study was higher than that reported in the literature to date. Dosing recommendations and pharmacokinetics were the most commonly recommended interventions documented. Although this study showed considerable cost savings by a pharmacy clinical faculty member, further study of economic benefits is needed.

Recurrence of Panic Attacks After Brucellosis Treatment—Highly Probable Citalopram and Rifampin Drug Interaction

Recurrence of Panic Attacks After Brucellosis Treatment—Highly Probable Citalopram and Rifampin Drug Interaction