Education case study reports reflection on teaching strategies for pharmacy students

Introduction: Teaching should meet the needs of all types of learner present in the class room; the activist, the reflector, the theorist and the pragmatist who also have diverse backgrounds, levels of education and are from different age groups. Aim: The aim of the four projects was to improve students’ engagement and success. Method: New teaching strategies were trialled to improve students’ engagement and successes with topics which according to their feedback were considered ‘dry’. The author utilised techniques such as flipping the class-room, simulation, case or problem based learning; and group work replacing traditional lectures. First, third and fourth year students were asked to prepare for the in-class activities at home using the lectures or simulation software. Results: The strategies were effective in a small class size of 15-20 students, with improved attendance and participation, improved fail/pass rate and number of students achieving credit or pass; however there was no significant change in the number of students achieving high distinction or distinction. Evaluation: Reproducibility is an important part of the experiment to demonstrate that the results can be trusted. Success with one or two cohorts is not sufficient to adopt a method of teaching. Ongoing evaluation is essential to eliminate cohort-related effects prior to implementation. It is not clear if the achieved results would be achievable in larger classes due to the reduction in student: lecturer ratio and limitation of class room time to allow all students to participate

Population in the Popular Press, 1946-1987: Towards a Theory of Social Problems

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51207/1/440.pd

Show me the data: the pilot UK Research Data Registry

The UK Research Data (Metadata) Registry pilot project is implementing a prototype registry for the UK's research data assets, enabling the holdings of subject-based data centres and institutional data repositories alike to be searched from a single location. The purpose of the prototype is to prove the concept of the registry and uncover challenges that will need to be addressed if and when the registry is developed into a sustainable service. The prototype is being tested using metadata records harvested from nine UK data centres and the data repositories of nine UK universities

Consumers' perception of the efficacy And tolerance of glucosamine in joint diseases

Introduction: In Australia, 18% of the population, experience or are diagnosed with some form of joints diseases (IJD) such as arthritis. The average cost of arthritis treatment per person per year is reported as Au$6200; 61% of arthritis costs are covered by the individuals themselves. Glucosamine is a complementary or alternative medicine used in the treatment of Inflammatory Joint Disease (IJD). Aim: The aim of this study was to explore consumers’ perception of the efficacy and tolerance of glucosamine preparations in IJD. Method: A 20-question survey was administered to members of the public to capture their experience of the efficacy, the side-effects of glucosamine and to investigate if it was prescribed or self-selected. Also, which glucosamine salt was used, for how long it was used and at what dose? Results: From 87 participants, 91.9% stated that glucosamine reduced their pain and 91.7% stated that it improved their joint movement. In 46.5% participants pain reduced by 3-4 points and in 51.7% joints movement improved by 1-2 points. Glucosamine was used by 60% for 6 months or more where improvement in pain and joint function by at least 1- point was reported. Six participants reported glucosamine was not effective. There were no reports of glucosamine intolerance. Five participants diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis; reported improvement in pain and joint movement by up to 2-points after taking daily 1500mg of Glucosamine Sulphate for over 6 months. Discussion: This study provided insight on the possible benefits of glucosamine in relieving pain and joints function associated with arthritis. Most studies reviewed that reported effectiveness of glucosamine used glucosamine sulphate whilst those deemed glucosamine ineffective had used the hydrochloride formulation. No research has been conducted on the antioxidant activity of glucosamine in all IJD. Conclusion: Five out of 87 participants had rheumatoid arthritis reported they found it was effective. It is therefore recommended that further research be conducted to measure the efficacy of glucosamine in treatment of different types of IJD and examining its antioxidant property

The role of rehabilitation as an adjunct to medication in acute coronary syndromes

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of cardiac rehabilitation through a systematic review comparing cardiac rehabilitation to pharmacological treatment assessing the benefits and risks associated with it. Through examining cardiac rehabilitation, this dissertation clarifies the importance behind such strategies by summarising the evidence of benefit. Method: The types of evidence used for this research include both primary and secondary sources. The question of the effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation is addressed by arguing that if the implementation of cardiac rehabilitation were improved the benefits would be higher. This study combines the findings of several studies to draw reliable conclusions supported by evidence than the component studies alone. Findings: Considering the evidence, area‟s, which require questioning, include the introduction of an online programme for patients to conduct the programme in the comfort of their own home compensating for the time used when attending appointments. Other areas include educating patients on the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation to motivate patients to attend. Conclusion: Despite the evidence, cardiac rehabilitation remains questioned; areas that require exposal include improving attendance, referral rates and introducing new areas of delivery