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Students and faculty planned and implemented a pharmacist-led influenza clinic on election day. A needs assessment was conducted, and a core team was convened for planning and reaching out to health departments. Stakeholders helped to identify polling sites and obtain sponsorship for vaccinations. Standing orders and a protocol were considered and university legal counsel addressed potential liability issues. Volunteers were trained, and the event was promoted through media outlets. This pharmacist-led immunization clinic provided 153 vaccinations; 42 individuals received an influenza vaccination for the first time. Over 30 students and faculty members were involved in the clinic. Lessons learned, including challenges, opportunities, and practical recommendations, are provided for students and faculty pharmacists who wish to conduct similar programs.

In response to national trends for preceptor development, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy conceived, developed, and implemented the Academy of Preceptors to foster preceptor development. The Academy's goals are to recognize preceptor excellence, improve experiential course delivery, develop preceptors' educational skills, and facilitate networking among preceptors.In 2004, the Academy's initial focus was development of live continuing education programs for preceptor development. A CD-ROM format also was developed for those who could not attend live sessions. Preceptors were asked to suggest additional topics of interest for future programs.In this paper, we describe our progress toward the goals, the School's benefits from the Academy, and the implications for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP).Preceptors provide 30% of pharmacy curricula; thus, the need for their training and ongoing professional development has been increasingly emphasized within experiential education. Priorities are to train preceptors to become better educators and motivate these practitioners to improve pharmacy education by sharing their valuable expertise with students.

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Methadone hydrochloride is a mu-opioid agonist that has been used for the treatment of pain and for the management and maintenance of opioid withdrawal for over 50 years. Several characteristics make methadone a useful drug. However, these same characteristics and wide interpatient variability can make methadone difficult to use safely. A MEDLINE search was conducted on publications between January 1996 and May 2001 to identify literature relevant to this subject. Those publications were reviewed, and from them, other literature was identified and reviewed. Published studies demonstrate methadone's efficacy in pain management and in opioid withdrawal. However, interpatient variability in pharmacokinetic variables of methadone produces difficulties in developing guidelines for methadone use. Clinicians should not be deterred from use of this drug which has been shown to benefit patients in both pain management and methadone maintenance, but an individualized patient approach must be taken to use methadone safely.

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