Objective. To evaluate the progression of pharmacy students' knowledge of black box warnings across 3 years of didactic training, and to determine how they stay current with new warnings. Methods. A cross-sectional survey instrument was administered to pharmacy students in their first (P1), second (P2), and third (P3) professional years. The survey assessed student awareness of medications possessing a black box warning and familiarity with the warning content for 20 medications (15 with and 5 without warnings).Results. Mean number of correct responses identifying the presence or absence of a black box warning among the 20 medications were 5.8 6 3.3, 9.6 6 4.0, and 14.8 6 2.8 for the P1, P2, and P3 students, respectively. Knowledge of black box warning content was variable. Students were least aware of the warning content for stavudine and enoxaparin. Students were most familiar with the warning content for paroxetine and estrogen. Conclusion. Students' awareness and understanding of black box warnings was proportional to their educational progression, but their knowledge level was inconsistent across drug groups.
Introduction. Escalating medical costs continue to be an issue facing contemporary medicine. One factor contributing to this escalation may be physicians' knowledge of medication costs. As physicians increasingly face opportunities to treat a variety of symptoms and conditions in a single patient, including co-morbid psychiatric disorders or complications, accurate knowledge of medication costs becomes increasingly important. Methods. Resident and attending physicians (N = 16) across the disciplines of internal medicine, psychiatry, and combined internal medicine/psychiatry from a large, mid-western medical school were surveyed on the costs of several medications that are used to manage physical and psychiatric symptoms. Results. Differences were found in the perceived estimated cost of medications among practitioners particularly with specialty internal medicine training as compared to those with additional psychiatric training/experience. Trends also were noted across practitioners with psychiatric and internal medicine/psychiatry training. Conclusions. The breadth of training and experience can affect accuracy in estimating anticipated costs of medication regimens. KS J Med 2013; 6(3):89-93.
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