IMPORTANCE Interprofessional collaborative practice (ICP), the collaboration of health workers from different professional backgrounds with patients, families, caregivers, and communities, is central to optimal primary care. However, limited evidence exists regarding its association with patient outcomes. OBJECTIVE To examine the association of ICP with hemoglobin A 1C (HbA 1c), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) levels among adults receiving primary care.
The Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners has provided the profession of pharmacy a patientcentered care model known as the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP). This process will serve to provide consistency throughout the profession as it becomes incorporated throughout pharmacy practice and education. A description of the early stages of implementing the PPCP at one public college of pharmacy provides insights into opportunities for education and assessment.
Objective. To identify key business, management, and human resources skills needed by pharmacy graduates. Methods. Pharmacy preceptors were recruited for inclusion in one of four focus groups. At each focus group, participants were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire and to identify key skills that new graduates need but do not have. Each focus group was audio-recorded, transcribed, de-identified, and categorized using a data dictionary. Results. Twenty-seven preceptors participated in the focus groups. Fourteen participants had a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Participants were involved in management positions for a median of 10.5 years (range 5-21 years) and 50% (median) of their time was devoted to management responsibilities (range 20%-80%). Seven themes were identified as being most critical: communication, business skills, decision-making and time management, conflict resolution, leadership and professionalism, personnel management, and computer software techniques. Conclusion. Communication was the most prominent skill identified, followed by decision-making and business knowledge. These skills should be addressed in pharmacy curricula. Future research should focus on how to best teach these skills.
Objective. To describe the development of a capstone course using qualitative results of focus groups and to determine the impact of the course using a pre-and postcourse surveys. Design. A course titled Advanced Patient Care was developed using themes emerged from 3 stakeholder focus groups and implemented with case-based sessions, interactive exercises, and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). Pre-and postcourse surveys were conducted to assess the students' confidence and knowledge in managing 8 commonly-encountered conditions. Assessment. During the 2-year course implementation, a total of 169 students participated in the preand postcourse surveys (87.6% response rate). The mean total confidence score increased significantly from 54.3 (69.2) to 69.0 (68.6, p,0.001), and the total mean knowledge score increased significantly from 6.3 to 6.9 (p,0.001). Conclusion. The capstone course, fueled by focus group findings and implemented using interactive sessions and simulations, positively impacted students' confidence and knowledge for clinical practice experiences and professional practice.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.