Addressing the issue of unintended pregnancy is a national priority. One proposed strategy to reduce unintended pregnancy is to improve access to oral contraceptives by changing them to over-the-counter (OTC) status. Existing data indicate that oral contraceptives meet safety criteria required of OTC products. Available literature demonstrates that women can self-screen for contraindications to oral contraceptives and can do this as well as clinicians, and experience with OTC emergency contraception suggests that OTC oral contraceptives would not increase sexual risk-taking behavior. Women support OTC access to oral contraceptives, but express an interest in accessing pharmacist counseling. On the basis of these data, the Women's Health Practice and Research Network of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy supports changing oral contraceptives to OTC status under two conditions: that they are sold where a pharmacist is on duty and that there are mechanisms in place to cover OTC contraceptives through Medicaid. Future research should address the issues of out-of-pocket costs to individuals, label-comprehension studies, and models for pharmacist reimbursement for time spent counseling on contraception.
Formal guidelines for mentoring faculty members in pharmacy practice divisions of colleges and schools of pharmacy do not exist in the literature. This paper addresses the background literature on mentoring programs, explores the current state of mentoring programs used in pharmacy practice departments, and provides guidelines for colleges and schools instituting formal mentoring programs. As the number of pharmacy colleges and schools has grown, the demand for quality pharmacy faculty members has dramatically increased. While some faculty members gain teaching experience during postgraduate residency training, new pharmacy practice faculty members often need professional development to meet the demands of their academic responsibilities. A mentoring program can be 1 means of improving faculty success and retention. Many US colleges and schools of pharmacy have developed formal mentoring programs, whereas several others have informal processes in place. This paper discusses those programs and the literature available, and makes recommendations on the structure of mentoring programs.
Menopausal symptoms affect a significant portion of women. Traditional treatment with manufactured hormone therapy can alleviate these symptoms, but many women and their health care providers are concerned about the risks, such as venous thromboembolism and certain types of cancer, demonstrated with manufactured hormone therapy. Compounded bioidentical hormone therapy has been proposed and is often used as a solution for these concerns. Despite this use, no data are currently available to support the claims that compounded bioidentical hormone therapy is a safer or more efficacious option compared with manufactured hormone therapy. A common misperception is that all manufactured products consist of synthetic hormones and all compounded medications consist of natural hormones; however, in fact, significant overlap exists. Several key stakeholder organizations have issued statements expressing concern about the lack of evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of compounded bioidentical hormone therapy, in addition to concerns regarding prescribing patterns. The Women's Health Practice and Research Network of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy recommends against the consistent use of compounded bioidentical hormones as a safer option compared with manufactured therapy and supports the statements of other key organizations, acknowledging the need for more robust clinical studies to evaluate the potential advantages and disadvantages of compounded bioidentical products compared with manufactured products.
Implementation of interprofessional education (IPE) across health care disciplines continues to anchor the coordination and integration of a multidisciplinary approach to clinical care. Since publication of the ACCP white paper on IPE in 2009, IPE has received increased attention among health care professional organizations and accrediting bodies and has been the focus of hundreds of new publications. Notable advances include the updated core competencies from the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), the addition of 14 health care professional organizations representing many different health care professional disciplines to the original six that formed IPEC, and the increased attention given to IPE in the accrediting standards of many health care professions. The present white paper serves as an update to the 2009 ACCP white paper addressing IPE implementation, assessment, barriers, sample practices, and resources. It also proposes several efforts that ACCP could pursue to further promote and implement IPE. K E Y W O R D S clinical pharmacy, education, interdisciplinary, interprofessional, interprofessional education, multidisciplinary, pharmacy practice, teamwork
Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) affects nearly 1 in 10 women. Thus, it is essential for pharmacists and other health care providers to be comfortable when discussing a patient's sexual health to ensure appropriate triage so that the specific causes of HSDD can be identified and potential recommendations provided. HSDD is defined as the absence or deficiency of sexual interest and/or desire, leading to significant distress and interpersonal difficulties. As health care providers, pharmacists have a critical role in assessing the presence of HSDD and providing education on available treatment options. This article will review the potential causes of HSDD and low sexual desire, the screening tools available, and the significant role of health care professionals in communicating with patients about their sexual health. An overview of the importance of behavioral modifications, the current pharmacologic options being investigated, and the use of complementary and alternative therapies will also be explored. Currently, buproprion is the primary pharmacologic agent that has shown positive results in treating patients with HSDD. The use of testosterone therapy will not be addressed in this article, as this therapy is described in greater detail elsewhere.
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.