Health professional students' knowledge and attitudes toward the pharmaceutical industry are formed prior to graduation. Professional curricula must address the influences of sales representatives before postgraduate training.

Objective. To develop a searchable database of educational technologies used at schools and colleges of pharmacy. Methods. A cross-sectional survey design was used to determine what educational technologies were being used and to identify an individual at each institution who could serve as an information resource for peer-to-peer questions.Results. Eighty-nine survey instruments were returned for a response rate of 75.4%. The resulting data illustrated the almost ubiquitous presence of educational technology. The most frequently used technology was course management systems and the least frequently used technology was microblogging. Conclusions. Educational technology use is trending toward fee-based products for enterprise-level applications and free, open-source products for collaboration and presentation. Educational technology is allowing educators to restructure classroom time for something other than simple transmission of factual information and to adopt an evidence-based approach to instructional innovation and reform.

Objective. To review the literature on fat modifying dietary supplements commonly used for weight loss. Methods. Recently published randomized, placebo-controlled trials were identified in PubMed, MEDLINE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar using the search terms dietary supplement, herbal, weight loss, obesity, and individual supplement names. Discussion. Data for conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), Garcinia cambogia, chitosan, pyruvate, Irvingia gabonensis, and chia seed for weight loss were identified. CLA, chitosan, pyruvate, and Irvingia gabonensis appeared to be effective in weight loss via fat modifying mechanisms. However, the data on the use of these products is limited. Conclusion. Many obese people use dietary supplements for weight loss. To date, there is little clinical evidence to support their use. More data is necessary to determine the efficacy and safety of these supplements. Healthcare providers should assist patients in weighing the risks and benefits of dietary supplement use for weight loss.

Veterans who were not exposed to statin therapy at any time during the study period were 1.56 times more likely to suffer all-cause mortality.

Objectives. To compare the performance of campus-based students with that of distance students during the first 2 years of a doctor of pharmacy program to evaluate parity between the pathways. Methods. Twelve cases were created for each year of the program along with performance criteria. The cases were converted into computer-based simulations for programmatic assessment at the end of the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years. All first-professional year (P1) and second-professional year (P2) students participated in the assessments. Overall class means were calculated and used to compare student performances between campus and distance education pathways. Results. Overall scores for the 2003 P1 class were 56.4% for the campus-based students and 62.4% for the distance students, (p 5 0.002); overall scores for the 2003 P2 class were 48.8% and 55.5%, respectively (p , 0.0001). The 2004 overall scores for P1 campus and distance students were 59.0% and 65.7%, respectively, (p 5 0.001); and for 2004 P2 scores the results were51.8% and 56.5%, respectively (p 5 0.049). Conclusions. Students receiving their pharmacy education via a distance pathway scored higher on performance-based assessments compared with students receiving their pharmacy education via the traditional campus-based pathway. This indicates that distance students are receiving at least an equivalent curricular experience in the P1 and P2 years compared to that received by campus-based students.Keywords: performance-based assessment, distance education, abilities-based curriculum INTRODUCTIONThe aging population and corresponding increase in prescriptions has created a current and future demand for pharmacists.1 This workforce demand has in turn produced an unprecedented period of growth in pharmacy education. Universities are opening new schools of pharmacy, while existing schools and colleges are developing innovative ways to increase their class sizes. They are graduating more practitioners by developing satellite campuses, and employing distance education technology. 2Our school addressed this shortage of pharmacists through the development of a distance-based doctor of pharmacy degree pathway in which all didactic courses, with the exception of 2 laboratory-based courses and the clinical rotations, are delivered via the Internet. A more complete description of this pathway and its development is available in a previous publication. 3This increase in enrollment was not without challenges such as ensuring that we effectively increase class size without sacrificing quality. The courses are identical in content to the campus-based pathway, and when possible, are delivered at the same time via distance technology. But not all courses are taught simultaneously or by the same instructors. Some of the distance courses are taught out of sequence and by different instructors. Also, differences in examination administration exist with the differences in pathways. For example, the distance-based pathway may use QuestionMark to administer examinations electroni...