Interprofessional education (IPE) is an important step in advancing health professional education for many years and has been endorsed by the Institute of Medicine as a mechanism to improve the overall quality of health care. IPE has also become an area of focus for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), with several groups, including these authors from the AACP Interprofessional Education Task Force, working on developing resources to promote and support IPE planning and development. This review provides background on the definition of IPE, evidence to support IPE, the need for IPE, student competencies and objectives for IPE, barriers to implementation of IPE, and elements critical for successfully implementing IPE.

Although there is evidence to support implementing interprofessional education (IPE) in the health sciences, widespread implementation in health professions education is not yet a reality. Challenges include the diversity in location and settings of schools and colleges, ie, many are not located within an academic health center. Faculty members may not have the necessary skill set for teaching in an IPE environment. Certain topics or themes in a pharmacy curriculum may be more appropriate than others for teaching in an IPE setting. This paper offers solutions to teaching IPE in diverse settings, the construct for implementing a faculty development program for IPE, and suggested curricular topics with their associated learning objectives, potential teaching methods, and timelines for implementation.

Results from animal studies have shown that NSAIDs can impair the tooth movement process. Until long-term human data are obtained, acetaminophen remains an appropriate alternative to NSAIDs for treating orthodontic-associated pain.

Objectives. To determine whether the use of a structured interviewing framework improved students' ability to treat self-care patients. Design. First-professional year pharmacy students (P1) in their first quarter of Pharmacy Practice Skills Development were taught self-care through a series of 4 modules. In each module students' content knowledge and application were assessed using quizzes and role-play scenarios, respectively. During the second module, a structured interview model (QuEST process) was presented by the instructor and students were tested on the same content and role-play used in module 1. Assessment. Sixty-four students completed the 4 self-care modules. Quiz scores improved from the first to the second module (75.8% vs. 88.4%, p , 0.001). Mean role-play scores also significantly improved after learning the QuEST process. Conclusion. The QuEST process is an effective tool to teach students how to counsel patients with self-care issues.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to develop, pilot, and validate a situational judgement test (SJT) to assess professionalism in Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students. Methods. Test specifications were developed and faculty members were educated on best practices in item writing for SJTs. The faculty members then developed 75 pilot scenarios. From those, two versions of the SJT, each containing 25 scenarios, were created. The pilot population for the SJT was student pharmacists in their third professional year, just prior to starting their advanced pharmacy practice experiences. The students completed the two versions of the test on different days, approximately 48 hours apart, with 50 minutes allowed to complete each. Subsequently, students completed a questionnaire regarding the SJT at the conclusion of the second test. Results. Version 1 of the SJT was completed by 228 students, and version 2 was completed by 225 students. Mean scores were 390 (SD520, range 318-429) and 342 (SD521, range 263-387) on test versions 1 and 2, respectively. The reliability of the tests was appropriate (test version 1, a50.77; test version 2, a50.79). Students felt that the content of the tests was realistic with respect to pharmacy practice (90.1%), and that the tests gave them an opportunity to reflect on how to approach challenging situations (82.6%). Conclusion. We developed a reliable SJT to assess professionalism in PharmD students. Future research should focus on creating a personalized learning plan for students who do not meet minimum performance standards on this SJT.