Objectives. To identify the variables associated with an academic pharmacy career choice among the following groups: final professional-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students, pharmacy residents, pharmacy faculty members within the first 5 years of academic employment, and clinical pharmacy practitioners. Methods. A cross-sectional design Web-based survey instrument was developed using the online tool SurveyMonkey. The survey link was distributed via e-mail and postcards, and data were collected anonymously. Quantitative analyses were used to describe the 2,494 survey respondents and compare their responses to 25 variables associated with an academic pharmacy career choice. Logistic regression models were used to predict the motivators/deterrents associated with an academic pharmacy career choice for each participant group. Results. Across all participant groups, the potential need to generate one's salary was the primary deterrent and autonomy, flexibility, and the ability to shape the future of the profession were the primary motivators. Final-year pharmacy students who considered a career in academic pharmacy were significantly deterred by grant writing. The overall sample of participants who considered an academic pharmacy career was more likely to be motivated by the academic environment and opportunities to teach, conduct professional writing and reviews, and participate in course design and/or assessment. Conclusions. This study demonstrates specific areas to consider for improved recruitment and retention of pharmacy faculty. For example, providing experiences related to pharmacy academia, such as allowing student participation in teaching and research, may stimulate those individuals' interest in pursuing an academic pharmacy career.

Objective. To review and recommend strategies for utilizing student ratings of instruction (course and instructor) including considerations regarding design, administration, and use and interpretation of results. Findings. Improving course delivery and pedagogy using student ratings of instruction requires programs to design evaluation instruments that are aligned with the following good, scholarly teaching criteria: offer 10-20 rating scale questions and at least one written response question, ensure that students understand what the questions are asking, use a standardized form for evaluating all faculty members, allow for additional tailored questions to be added to the form, and employ a four-or fivepoint rating scale with a "not applicable" option. When administering evaluations, programs should limit the number of faculty members evaluated to those teaching greater than or equal to five clock hours of lecture or schedule evaluations based on academic rank; use an online course evaluation tool; randomly select students to participate; offer the evaluation at the end of the term (and/or midpoint for team taught classes); offer the evaluation during scheduled class time; and allow for voluntary, anonymous student participation. Finally, programs should create an assessment plan that outlines the results' release timeline, a list of who will receive result summaries, and how the results will be used. Programs should also encourage faculty reflection, offer mentoring in results interpretation, coach faculty members to summarize and quantify comments and longitudinally track results using tables, and create an accountability action plan to address deficiencies. Summary. In order to better ensure that student ratings of instruction are used to improve teaching, colleges and schools should adopt intentional design, structured administration processes, and transparent reporting of results.

Objective. To introduce PharmD students to changes in calculations question types (constructedresponse versus selected-response questions); measure and compare student performance on constructedresponse and selected-response questions in a pharmaceutics course; and collect student feedback on the use of differing question types. Methods A pharmaceutics/pharmaceutical calculations examination was administered that included 15 pairs of questions; each pair consisted of a constructed-response question and a similar selectedresponse question. An online questionnaire was conducted to collect student feedback. Results. Of the 15 topics, the class scored higher on the constructed-response question for 4 topics and higher on the selected-response question for 10 topics. Eighty percent of the class preferred selectedresponse questions, although 47.8% felt constructed-response questions better prepared them for a career in healthcare. Conclusions. Students correctly answered more selected-response questions than constructed-response questions and felt more confident in doing so. Additional constructed-response teaching and testing methods should be incorporated into pharmacy education.

Tracking adherence can be a useful means of identifying opportunities to provide educational intervention to nonadherent patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of biosensing technology to track medication adherence. Searches of PubMed and Ovid IPA were conducted. The criteria for inclusion were studies that tracked and reported ingestion events. Studies that did not track ingestion events were excluded from this review. Titles and abstracts were assessed for relevance, and full-text reviews were performed on all potentially relevant studies. References from the studies retrieved from the literature searches were assessed for additional applicable articles. Overall, ingestion events were detected 91.3% of the time, with many of the failed detections being related to patients not using or inappropriately using the system. In the studies that looked at the latency time, the overall mean time to detection by the wearable sensor was between 1.1 and 5.1 min. With medication nonadherence being a persistent problem in healthcare, biosensing technology presents an innovative approach to tracking adherence. The technology has been shown to be accurate in its ability to track actual medication use in patients. It has also been shown to detect ingestions with a minimal delay after administration. Accessibility may be an issue with this technology in the future, and further studies may be necessary to access the viability of biosensing technology.

No abstract

In reply: Thank you for the inquiries about our article "Pharmacy Student Performance on Constructed-Response Versus Selected-Response Calculations Questions."1 You noted a few areas that we had designated to discuss in a subsequent article. Test writing, as you suggested, is a time-intensive activity that requires expertise not typically held by traditional pharmacy faculty members.Developing tests is a specialized skill that may be underestimated by both new and seasoned faculty members. Personnel with backgrounds in statistics, education, and/or psychology may have had exposure to the intricacies of test writing, but it takes a great deal of time, experience, and expertise to develop high-quality assessments. In the case of selected-response vs constructed-response questions, writing constructed-response questions is actually easier and less time-intensive than writing selectedresponse questions; writing the answer choices is one of the most difficult tasks in developing selected-response questions.In terms of labor costs, faculty time is an important consideration, but the pharmacy schools of Shenandoah University and Union University do not have designated staff members to manage the question-writing process. The writing and approval process likely varies among colleges and schools of pharmacy. We do have technical staff members who are available to help with the online testing software and setup of tests.Shenandoah University pharmacy students have been using laptops and online testing extensively since the school opened in 1996, and Union University pharmacy students have been using laptops and online testing since the school opened in 2008. In that regard, there is no additional cost for hardware or software specifically related to computer-based pharmacy calculations quizzes or examinations. The use of the testing software for this purpose actually would provide additional justification for any current annual expenses related to hardware and software necessary for online testing.

Objectives. To determine whether there is a correlation between Gallup Clifton Strengths Signature Themes and personality traits in Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy students, and if there is a relationship between Clifton Strengths and age or gender.Methods. An online survey was sent to current full-timefirst-through third-year Doctor of Pharmacy students at the McWhorter School of Pharmacy to assess each student's personality traits and collect his or her Gallup Clifton Strengths results. The collected data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 26and Microsoft Excel. Results. The top five strengths among the 92 responses were Achiever (41.3%), Empathy (27.2%), Harmony (40.2%), Learner (33.7%), and Restorative (30.4%).Females most commonly reported strengths in the Executing and Relationship Building leadership domains, while males most commonly reported strengths in the Influencing and Strategic Thinking leadership domains. The most commonly reported personality traits were Introversion (I), Sensing (S), Thinking (T), and Judging (J). Conclusion.Patterns were observed between student pharmacists' Clifton Strengths results and personality traits. There were differences observed in gender and age range.

Introduction: A private School of Pharmacy in the United States of America with a four-year programme began delivering a new curriculum in the autumn of 2021. To measure students’ performance in the curriculum, a comprehensive competency-based assessment was implemented in August 2022. Methods: An ExamSoft question item bank was developed based on existing course questions, and questions were allocated to the assessment based on competencies, Bloom’s level, item difficulty level, and the count indicated on the exam blueprint. Results: The reliability data for the assessment was good, but the results were lower than desired. Performance levels were modified to better reflect the status of first-time implementation. Conclusion: The assessment was deemed reliable, but adjustments will likely be necessary over the next several years. The ‘School Competencies and Objectives Progress Exam’ (SCOPE) 1 workgroup will reconvene next summer to discuss any desired changes in question selection, weighting, and performance levels.