Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning RSS feed: Current Issue. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning is a quarterly publication that is devoted to dissemination of high quality, peer-reviewed scholarship relevant to all areas of pharmacy education. The Journal and its Editorial Staff endeavor to attract and publish manuscripts from a variety of disciplines and educational settings to promote excellence in educational research. The Journal and its Editorial Staff look to incorporate a broad range of manuscript types (e.g. short communications, full research papers, review articles, opinions and perspectives) in each issue and, in so doing, attract contributions from educators at all levels, graduate students, pharmacists actively involved in student and/or patient education, as well as from other members of the healthcare team. Article topics shall span all components of pharmacy education including, but not limited to, innovative teaching and learning strategies, skills development, assessment of educational outcomes, practical tips from seasoned educators, new school and new program startup strategies, successful approaches to/implementation of curricular revision, as well as topics on attitudes and perceptions within pharmacy education.http://www.pharmacyteaching.com/?rss=yesElsevier Inc.en © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning1877-129721January 2010 © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. healthpermissions@elsevier.comhttp://www.pharmacyteaching.com/article/PIIS187712971000002X/abstract?rss=yesDo you have a remarkably full plate? A whole myriad of activities, teaching, scholarly activity and service to the institution, profession and/or community, certainly consume our days and, when necessary, after hours as well. Most of us don't need to ask the obvious question—Why does a career in academic pharmacy potentially become an all-consuming lifestyle? The simple fact is that each of us wants to make a difference—we want to have an impact, whether it is in a local community or in the profession itself. One of the beauties of academic pharmacy is the multitude of choices we have available to accomplish just that.Making an impactRobin M. Zavod10.1016/j.cptl.2010.01.001Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning 2, 1 (2010)2010-01-01Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning2010-01-0121S1877-1297(10)X0003-XEditorial11http://www.pharmacyteaching.com/article/PIIS1877129709000550/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Heart disease and cancer are responsible for up to half of the more than 2 million deaths each year in the United States. Pharmacists ought to contribute to reducing mortality when they take an active role in prevention. Academic and community pharmacists can join the cadre of existing public health pharmacists who provide access to preventive care and disease management services. The intention of this paper is to incite discussion among faculty in schools and colleges of pharmacy, with the hope that an increased interest in public health occurs in the academic environment and that pharmacists assume additional leadership roles in public health matters. Descriptions of pharmacist-designed programs that address public health concerns, as well as the results of these programs, are presented. A suggestion for how medical missions can serve as a model of interprofessional and public health education is included.Public health matters: the role of the pharmacist and the academyRuth E. Nemire, Ceressa T. Ward, Karen Whalen, John Quinn, Vaiyapuri Subramaniam, Sharon K. Gershon, Robin M. Zavod10.1016/j.cptl.2009.12.001Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning 2, 1 (2010)2010-01-01Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning2010-01-0121S1877-1297(10)X0003-XOriginal articles211http://www.pharmacyteaching.com/article/PIIS1877129709000562/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Objectives: Little is known about the communication barriers experienced by pharmacy students. The objective of this research was to enable students to reflect on their communication styles and barriers through the writing process.Methods: Twenty-six critical incident student essays were purposefully selected from a culturally diverse cohort of fourth year (P-2) Doctor of Pharmacy students. Each student in the course was required to complete a critical incident essay as part of a course-related assignment.Results: The data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti (ATLAST.ti GmbH, Berlin, Germany), a computer program that aids in the analysis of qualitative data. Three main themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Social communication barriers, (2) patient-focused or experiential communication barriers, and (3) environmental or structural communication barriers.Conclusions: This study allowed students a forum to introspectively focus on their communication barriers. It also allows educators a window into the cognitive and affective communicative barriers experienced by pharmacy students.Learning through self-reflection: understanding communication barriers faced by a cross-cultural cohort of pharmacy studentsJohn M. Lonie10.1016/j.cptl.2009.12.002Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning 2, 1 (2010)2010-01-01Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning2010-01-0121S1877-1297(10)X0003-XOriginal articles1219http://www.pharmacyteaching.com/article/PIIS1877129709000574/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Evidence suggests that faculty member work satisfaction may be an important mediator of organizational commitment, job turnover, and certain aspects of productivity. The study objective was to determine the contribution of various organizational, situational, and demographic variables toward overall pharmacy academician work satisfaction and its various domains. A web-based survey targeted 4228 faculty whose e-mail addresses were acquired from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Faculty work satisfaction was measured on a previously validated, multifactorial scale. Independent variables measuring personal and institutional characteristics of the respondents were regressed over general (overall) satisfaction scores and over scores for each of six domains (i.e., factors) of the satisfaction construct in seven unique, forward-conditional regression procedures. From the 885 responses (21.7% response), faculty reported slight satisfaction with their jobs, overall. They reported being most satisfied with teaching issues and least satisfied with the availability of a graduate program and resources for scholarship. Significant in the regression model of overall satisfaction were the variables institutional support, department chair support, three domains of intradisciplinary consensus, type of employing institution (i.e., public vs. private), stress due to lack of time, male gender, and dean support. Many of the same variables were significant in additional regression procedures; however, the degrees of explanatory power differed in each. Research productivity, teaching effectiveness, and workload were not significant in any model. Understanding the underlying factors that contribute to an academician's satisfaction might lead administrators to develop more successful initiatives to improve faculty morale and, ultimately, engender faculty commitment and retention.Predictors of pharmacy faculty work satisfactionShane P. Desselle, Mark H. Conklin10.1016/j.cptl.2009.12.003Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning 2, 1 (2010)2010-01-01Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning2010-01-0121S1877-1297(10)X0003-XOriginal articles2030http://www.pharmacyteaching.com/article/PIIS1877129710000031/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Objectives: We set out to (1) develop a learner-centered approach to pharmacotherapeutics textbook evaluation and selection and (2) describe potential differences among students and instructors in their textbook selection preferences.Design: Pharmacy practice faculty created the Textbook Evaluation and Selection Tool (TEST) to evaluate pharmacotherapeutics textbooks. Evaluator subgroups were PharmD students (third-year, fourth-year, and teaching assistants) and instructors (residents and clinical faculty). Although each evaluator used the same therapeutic topic for all four textbooks, the range of evaluators reviewed a variety of disease state topics. The Many-Facet Rasch Model (MFRM) was used to transform evaluation responses into measures of textbook preference.Results: Thirty-two participants completed 241 TEST evaluations. Regarding construct validity, the TEST rating scale functioned well, while textbooks and items clearly fit the unidimensional model. The TEST separation was 4.91, with a measurement error of 0.07 for the textbooks. The TEST reliability was 0.96. Textbook preferences varied among subgroups of students and instructors. Because the number of participants/evaluations varied among subgroups, a consensus was achieved by summating subgroup preference measures from the MFRM.Conclusion: This study fostered textbook evaluation and included student, resident, and faculty input. Using the TEST measure, differences were observed among evaluator subgroups. This inclusive decision-making design provided feedback in our pharmacotherapeutics textbook selection process.A student-inclusive pharmacotherapeutics textbook selection processMichael J. Peeters, Mariann D. Churchwell, Laurie S. Mauro, Diane M. Cappelletty, Gregory E. Stone10.1016/j.cptl.2009.12.004Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning 2, 1 (2010)2010-01-01Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning2010-01-0121S1877-1297(10)X0003-XOriginal articles3138http://www.pharmacyteaching.com/article/PIIS1877129710000043/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Objectives: There is a significant shortage of pharmacy faculty. During the next decade, academia will need at least 1200 new faculty members to staff the various pharmacy programs around the country. This survey identifies factors that influence pharmacy students in considering academia as a career option. Primary objectives were to evaluate whether students have considered academia as a career pathway, how they were exposed, their perspectives on this career path, and to compare students' and faculty's perspectives on why students choose or do not choose academia as a career path.Methods: Online surveys were developed, one for students and one for faculty, and administered at six institutions. This exploratory study used descriptive analysis and logistic regression models.Results: Almost half of the students surveyed were unaware of the shortage in pharmacy faculty members. Low patient contact was the top reason students did not intend to pursue academia. The top reasons students were interested in academia were teaching responsibilities and work-life balance. Salary was not as significant a factor for students as faculty predicted. Current school initiatives did not significantly impact a student's career decision.Conclusion: Student and faculty perspectives were significantly different in many areas. Future methods to educate students on academia as a career path need to be more effective in reaching students' interests and addressing misconceptions regarding the activities of a faculty member. Patient contact, teaching responsibilities, and a healthy work-life balance are important to our students and should be highlighted within our schools to encourage academic careers.A comparative study of student and faculty perspectives regarding career opportunities in pharmacy academiaLea S. Eiland, Schwanda K. Flowers, Shridhar V. Andurkar, Richard O'Brocta, Sunil Prabhu, Philip J. Medon10.1016/j.cptl.2009.12.005Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning 2, 1 (2010)2010-01-01Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning2010-01-0121S1877-1297(10)X0003-XOriginal articles3951http://www.pharmacyteaching.com/article/PIIS1877129710000055/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: The objective of this manuscript is to describe and document the usefulness of incorporating drug structure knowledge in treatment algorithms in our medicinal chemistry courses. Treatment algorithms from therapeutics textbooks and recommendations from major health organizations for treatment of different disease states were incorporated as part of an instructional model to teach clinically relevant medicinal chemistry. Drug structure knowledge pertinent to the use of different drug classes used for the treatment of various diseases is introduced to help students apply that knowledge. Examples of hypertension treatment are provided to illustrate how this knowledge is incorporated into the treatment algorithm for hypertension. Student subjective and objective data are provided as evidence of student learning.Drug structure and treatment algorithms: treatment of hypertensionNaser Z. Alsharif10.1016/j.cptl.2009.12.006Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning 2, 1 (2010)2010-01-01Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning2010-01-0121S1877-1297(10)X0003-XOriginal articles5266http://www.pharmacyteaching.com/article/PIIS1877129710000171/abstract?rss=yesTable of contents10.1016/S1877-1297(10)00017-1Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning 2, 1 (2010)2010-01-01Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning2010-01-0121S1877-1297(10)X0003-XFrontmatterA1A1