American College of Clinical Pharmacy White Paper: Cultural Competency in Health Care and Its Implications for Pharmacy Part 3A: Emphasis on Pharmacy Education, Curriculums, and Future Directions

Culture influences patients\u27 beliefs and behaviors toward health and illness. As the U.S. population becomes more diverse, a critical need exists for pharmacy education to incorporate patient-centered culturally sensitive health care knowledge and skills into the curriculum. Nursing was the first profession to incorporate this type of learning and training into its curriculums, followed by medicine. Pharmacy has also made great progress to revise curriculums, but inconsistency exists in depth, breadth, and methods across pharmacy colleges. This article addresses important aspects of pharmacy education such as curriculum development, incorporation of educational innovations and techniques into the teaching of patient-centered culturally sensitive health care across the curriculum from didactic to experiential learning, assessment tools, and global education. A preliminary model curriculum with objectives and examples of teaching methods is proposed. Future directions in pharmacy education, teaching and learning scholarship, postgraduate education, licensure, and continuing education are also presented

PRN OPINION PAPER: Application of precision medicine across pharmacy specialty areas

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149551/1/jac51107_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149551/2/jac51107.pd

Knowledge and practice of patients with diabetes mellitus in Lebanon: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of Lebanese patients living with diabetes mellitus in regards to their diabetes self- management. Methods A cross-sectional study, conducted between January and June 2015, enrolled 207 urban adult patients with diabetes mellitus from community pharmacies while purchasing their diabetes medications. Their knowledge and self-management practices were assessed using a structured anonymous interview survey questionnaire. Results The mean age of the participants was 60.2 ± 15.5 years, and the Male/Female ratio was 1.38. The mean knowledge score was 2.34 ± 0.88 points (out of 6). Very few participants (17.4%) knew their current medication side effects. The mean practice score was 5.86 ± 1.77 points (out of 8). Only 15.9% of patients reported current physical activity. A multiple linear analysis showed that those with a university degree had a significantly higher knowledge (Beta = 0.448, p = 0.001) and practice score (Beta = 0.523 p = 0.047) than those with intermediate or primary schooling. Those who reported following a special diabetes diet had a higher knowledge score (Beta = 0.482, p < 0.001) than those who did not. Knowledge score and practice score were highly correlated (Beta = 0.844, p < 0.001). There was no significant differential by gender and age for knowledge and practice scores. Conclusions The knowledge and practice scores of patients with diabetes mellitus were not satisfactory. Well-targeted interventions are needed, such as improving the communication between the pharmacist and people living with diabetes. The observed low adherence to physical exercise among patients with diabetes should also be addressed

Assessing Continuing Education Practices and Preferences amongst Lebanese Hospital Pharmacists

Background: Continuing education (CE) is an international tool that requires lifelong active participation in learning activities allowing the pharmacist to stay a major player among others. In 2014 the CE program was introduced to the pharmacists licensed in Lebanon as a mandatory requirement for re-licensure. In the absence of guidelines regarding the quality and quantity of CE programs, behavioral resistance to precipitate in the CE programs might be encountered among the pharmacists. Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the perceptions of pharmacists working in Lebanese hospitals on the continuing education preferences. The advantage of this program is to collect information that would help the Order of Pharmacy in Lebanon to upgrade the CE program in a way that is more acceptable and convenient for the pharmacists. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2016, using a proportionate random sample of Lebanese hospital pharmacies from all governorates in Lebanon. A structured questionnaire was distributed to all hospital pharmacies in Lebanon. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all study variables. This includes the mean and standard deviation for continuous measures, counts and percentages for categorical variables Results: A total of 107 (53.5%) participants completed the questionnaires. The majority of participants were from Beirut and Mount Lebanon. The percentage of participants working at private hospitals was (68.2%).The majority of participants who completed the questionnaire (86.2%) agreed that continuing education programs affects their way of practice and increases their knowledge. Their preferred CE types to be used in the future were the computer based ones (60.6%), interactive workshops (45.5%) and printed materials (44.9%). Their considerations for selecting the CE type is based on their interest in the topic (80.6%), the ease of access to print or online material (77.2%), or the convenience of being offered during an event (67.1%). Participants noted that barriers to attend live CEs were mainly work responsibilities (76%), travel distance (65.6%), family commitments (48.4%) and scheduling (40.6%). Conclusions: Lebanese hospital pharmacists are highly committed to CE. They consider it a practical tool for career development and advancement

American College of Clinical Pharmacy White Paper: Cultural Competency in Health Care and Its Implications for Pharmacy Part 3B: Emphasis on Pharmacy Education Policy, Procedures, and Climate

The Institute of Medicine has stated that greater diversity within health care professionals leads to improved patient outcomes. Therefore, greater diversity within academia and student bodies is required to create future diverse health care professionals. Cultural sensitivity is required from recruitment to physical environment for administrators, faculty, staff, and students. University, college, and department recruitment, search committees, hiring practices, and admissions policies and procedures need to be assessed to determine whether they reflect the applicant pool and patient populations in their regions and whether they are culturally sensitive to a wide variety of cultures. The mission, vision, policies, procedures, curriculums, and environments should also be created or reviewed, modified, and/or expanded to ensure that no administrator, faculty member, staff member, or student is discriminated against or disadvantaged because of cultural beliefs or practices. In addition to discussing the interplay between cultural sensitivity and academic policies, procedures, and environments, this article briefly discusses specific cultural issues related to religion, spirituality, race, ethnicity, gender, age, marital status, veterans, physical, mental, and learning disabilities, and sexual orientation diversity

PRN OPINION PAPER: Application of Precision Medicine across Pharmacy Specialty Areas

Clinical pharmacists have been incorporating precision medicine into practice for decades. Drug selection and dosing based on patient-specific clinical factors such as age, weight, renal function, drug interactions, plasma drug concentrations, and diet are expected as part of routine clinical practice. Newer concepts of precision medicine such as pharmacogenomics have recently been implemented into clinical care, while other concepts such as epigenetics and pharmacomicrobiomics still predominantly exist in the research area but clinical translation is expected in the future. The purpose of this paper is to describe current and emerging aspects of precision medicine as it relates to clinical pharmacy across a variety of specialty areas of practice, with perspectives from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Practice and Research Network membership