The Stakeholder Experience of a large scale final year undergraduate social community research project

Objective: In 2014 The School of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham needed to deliver individual research methods supervision by a small number of academic staff to a large number of final year students. There are limited opportunities for students to gain patient facing experience on this course. The learning initiative was designed to meet these needs. Design: Dissertation students were offered a unique opportunity to participate in a large scale community pharmacy research project. Eighty-two students collected standardised data from patients across 36 pharmacies in the Greater Nottingham area. Local data collection supervision was provided by the local community pharmacists at the data collection sites. Academic supervision was provided to students using a hub and spoke model with ‘hub’ supervision provided by two members of staff offering broad methodological support to the cohort. This was further supported by local supervisors providing individualised ‘spoke’ support to students. Students were able to examine and report on their local results. The data generated overall provides a mass dataset for further examination by academics. An independent evaluation of stakeholder experience was undertaken. Assessment: Students were assessed by a poster presentation and written report summarising one segment of local analysis. Conclusion: Academics saw the hub and spoke model of supervision as innovative and a positive and efficient use of their time. All participating stakeholders feel that students benefit from the timely development of their transferable skills for their professional career; skills cited as requirements for pharmacy education by the GPhC (2011)

The ethnographic study of the student experience of making meaning and identity through a new Veterinary curriculum

In 2007 the first brand new Vet School built in over fifty years in the UK, opened at the University of Nottingham. Innovative evidence-based approaches were taken to each aspect of the new Vet School from the ICT infrastructure, staff recruitment through to curriculum design. This is a relatively rare scenario which offers a unique opportunity for research into this set of innovations and their cumulative effect on the student experience. Research into the student experience is timely and relevant. The world knowledge base is rapidly expanding, in part due to digitality, especially in relation to medical and professional learning. This, with the accompanying disappearance of the 'job for life', has led to increased emphasis within education to develop transferable skills and lifelong learning. As the Higher Education (HE) market becomes more competitive, the student role in the market develops towards consumerism. These factors give impetus for studies into new and developing student learning experiences. The author is an educationalist with no veterinary expertise. Due to this outsider perspective, an emergent ethnographic approach was taken to the research. Data sources are wide ranging from participation observation and field notes to recurring interviews with ten key informant students. Analysis was undertaken through thematising data and iterative ethnographic writing, simultaneously with literature review. Data is presented firstly in a series of descriptive vignettes which highlight key findings. Further to this, analysis is presented and underpinned by examples from primary and secondary data. Key issues are described from a majority rule position but also highlighting negative cases. This approach is useful to represent experiences of a community from a combination of participant perspectives. The research is undertaken in the socio-cultural paradigm where learning is not an individual pursuit but one undertaken in a social context. Wenger's (1999) 'Communities of practice' model describes learning as activity through participation in a community during which individuals construct meaning and identity. This model is most often reported in the literature in relation to informal work-based learning as it is argued that distance between context and classroom creates an artificial learning environment. This thesis takes a novel approach to apply the "Communities of Practice" model to a formal learning environment and considers Higher Education to operate at the 'legitimate periphery of participation' of workplace professionalism. By using Wenger's model as a broad framework, the research highlights the importance of both curriculum and relationships to the student learning experience. Evidence-based educational approaches such as integrated curriculum and early reflective learning were shown to be beneficial to student learning, although the student understanding of the benefits of these approaches on their learning developed longitudinally across the early part of the course. Students participate in learning through the important relationships which exist between peers, students and teachers, and those within the experienced veterinary community of practice. Data showed that talk in both formal and informal relationships is a method used by students in constructing conceptual meaning, and is one way that learners understand their construction of a professional identity during the early part of the course. Cognitive, social and experiential congruence between students and others is shown to have impact on the student learning experience. Specific case examples show that the student experience of a wide range of relationships covering each type of congruence has maximum benefit. Peer learning has significant benefits, and talk and discussion are key to developing both meaning and identity. Professional identity is constructed during both formal and informal, planned and emergent contexts. Significant others act as role models or anti-role models in the student learning journey. SVMS learners develop a professional learning identity related to the nature of knowledge and lifelong learning. A brief summary of the most recent British Veterinary Association (BVA) and Association of Veterinary Students (AVS) student satisfaction survey (2008) concludes that Nottingham has the highest levels of satisfaction and perceived readiness for practice amongst its students of any UK Vet School. This research shows the way that students in the new Vet School learn to both 'talk the walk' and 'walk the walk'

The ethnographic study of the student experience of making meaning and identity through a new Veterinary curriculum

In 2007 the first brand new Vet School built in over fifty years in the UK, opened at the University of Nottingham. Innovative evidence-based approaches were taken to each aspect of the new Vet School from the ICT infrastructure, staff recruitment through to curriculum design. This is a relatively rare scenario which offers a unique opportunity for research into this set of innovations and their cumulative effect on the student experience. Research into the student experience is timely and relevant. The world knowledge base is rapidly expanding, in part due to digitality, especially in relation to medical and professional learning. This, with the accompanying disappearance of the 'job for life', has led to increased emphasis within education to develop transferable skills and lifelong learning. As the Higher Education (HE) market becomes more competitive, the student role in the market develops towards consumerism. These factors give impetus for studies into new and developing student learning experiences. The author is an educationalist with no veterinary expertise. Due to this outsider perspective, an emergent ethnographic approach was taken to the research. Data sources are wide ranging from participation observation and field notes to recurring interviews with ten key informant students. Analysis was undertaken through thematising data and iterative ethnographic writing, simultaneously with literature review. Data is presented firstly in a series of descriptive vignettes which highlight key findings. Further to this, analysis is presented and underpinned by examples from primary and secondary data. Key issues are described from a majority rule position but also highlighting negative cases. This approach is useful to represent experiences of a community from a combination of participant perspectives. The research is undertaken in the socio-cultural paradigm where learning is not an individual pursuit but one undertaken in a social context. Wenger's (1999) 'Communities of practice' model describes learning as activity through participation in a community during which individuals construct meaning and identity. This model is most often reported in the literature in relation to informal work-based learning as it is argued that distance between context and classroom creates an artificial learning environment. This thesis takes a novel approach to apply the "Communities of Practice" model to a formal learning environment and considers Higher Education to operate at the 'legitimate periphery of participation' of workplace professionalism. By using Wenger's model as a broad framework, the research highlights the importance of both curriculum and relationships to the student learning experience. Evidence-based educational approaches such as integrated curriculum and early reflective learning were shown to be beneficial to student learning, although the student understanding of the benefits of these approaches on their learning developed longitudinally across the early part of the course. Students participate in learning through the important relationships which exist between peers, students and teachers, and those within the experienced veterinary community of practice. Data showed that talk in both formal and informal relationships is a method used by students in constructing conceptual meaning, and is one way that learners understand their construction of a professional identity during the early part of the course. Cognitive, social and experiential congruence between students and others is shown to have impact on the student learning experience. Specific case examples show that the student experience of a wide range of relationships covering each type of congruence has maximum benefit. Peer learning has significant benefits, and talk and discussion are key to developing both meaning and identity. Professional identity is constructed during both formal and informal, planned and emergent contexts. Significant others act as role models or anti-role models in the student learning journey. SVMS learners develop a professional learning identity related to the nature of knowledge and lifelong learning. A brief summary of the most recent British Veterinary Association (BVA) and Association of Veterinary Students (AVS) student satisfaction survey (2008) concludes that Nottingham has the highest levels of satisfaction and perceived readiness for practice amongst its students of any UK Vet School. This research shows the way that students in the new Vet School learn to both 'talk the walk' and 'walk the walk'

A call to action to change the communication skills curriculum for pharmacy undergraduates in Turkey: A comparison with the United Kingdom

Introduction: Globally, pharmacy undergraduate programs are evolving to reflect a more patient-centered approach to clinical practice. The importance of teaching communication skills in any undergraduate pharmacy curriculum cannot be overstated. This article compares current literature and practices related to pharmacy services and communication skills training (CST) in pharmacy undergraduate education in the United Kingdom (UK) and Turkey and discusses the need for an urgent change in the CST curriculum in Turkey. Additionally, the article provides potential strategies for improving the quality of CST and for expanding pharmacy practice to ensure students and graduates are motivated to use communication skills. Commentary: The traditionally structured curriculum in Turkey, where the basic sciences components are in the early years and clinical experiences in the later years, should be changed into an integrated environment so that CST could be more effectively incorporated. The CST offered at the University of Nottingham could be considered as a framework. Implications: To meet patient care and educational needs, the authors have identified three key strategies to develop a change in CST for curriculum planners and policy makers in Turkey. Crow

DNA-coated microcrystals

Coprecipitation leads to self-assembly of bioactive DNA on the surface of salt, sugar or amino-acid crystals and provides a rapid inexpensive immobilization method suitable for preparing dry-powder formulations of nucleic acids, useful for storage, imaging and drug delivery

Online prostate cancer screening decision aid for at-risk men: A randomized trial

Objective: This study examines the efficacy of an online decision aid (DA) for men with a family history of prostate cancer. Methods: Unaffected Australian men (40 - 79 years) with at least one affected relative completed the first online questionnaire, were randomized to read either the tailored DA (intervention) or nontailored information about prostate cancer screening (control), then completed a questionnaire postreading and 12 months later. The primary outcome was decisional conflict regarding prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing. The impact of the DA on longitudinal outcomes was analyzed by using random intercept mixed effects models. Logistic and linear regressions were used to analyze the impact of the DA on screening behavior and decision regret. Stage of decision-making was tested as a moderator for decisional conflict and decision regret. The frequency of online material access was recorded. Results: the DA had no effect on decisional conflict, knowledge, inclination toward PSA testing, accuracy of perceived risk, or screening behavior. However, among men considering PSA testing, those who read the DA had lower decision regret compared with men who read the control materials, β=.34 , p \u3c.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [.22, .53]. Conclusions: This is the first study to our knowledge to evaluate the uptake and efficacy of an online screening DA among men with a family history of prostate cancer. Men who were undecided about screening at baseline benefitted from the DA, experiencing less regret 12 months later. In relation to decisional conflict, the control materials may have operated as a less complex and equally informative DA

A Good Life with Dementia : Realist evaluation of a post-diagnostic peer-led course, run by and for people with dementia

The Good Life with Dementia approach was created by and for people with dementia so that those with lived experience could provide structured support to others newly diagnosed with the condition. The programme is based on some underlying ideas (theories) about why such an approach might work more effectively than traditional (professional-led) forms of post-diagnostic support. A team at the University of York, in collaboration with Tees Esk and Wear Valley’s NHS Foundation Trust, has been working with peer tutors and other stakeholders living with dementia to make these underlying theories explicit. In the NIHR Three Schools funded project: Understanding the Role of 'Peer Tutors' in Post-Diagnostic Support for People with Dementia: A Realist Process Evaluation of the Good Life with Dementia Approach, theories of change are being tested and refined to clarify: how the peer-tutor programme might improve things; who it might improve things for; to what extent; and in what contexts. We are also exploring what outcomes the programme might influence, and which factors influence whether these outcomes are achieved. In this session we present early findings from initial stages of this evaluation, including observations of Good Life course sessions and initial theories of change. As with all elements of the programme and associated research, the presentation was designed in collaboration with experts by experience, whose voices have and will continue to feed into developing theories. A next step will be to test out initial theories in different contexts, including with stakeholders from South Asian communities

The role of pharmacists in general practice: a realist review

Background The review was carried out review prior to evaluating and to inform our research on the clinical pharmacists in general practices pilot, a world leading initiative to improve health care delivery in England. Around 500 pharmacists are already working in general practice as part of the pilot, launched in July 2015 Objectives The review attempts to explain the how “clinical pharmacists in general practices” is being implemented, what works well, what does not work so well and everything in-between. Methods This realist review was conducted to the RAMESES standards. Studies were identified by searching three databases, Medline, Embase and Scopus. Additional papers were gathered from reference lists, Google searches and via the find similar citations feature. Results A total of 83 papers and articles were initially identified from Medline (19), Embase (31) and Scopus (32). With close reading, the final review consisted of of 43 papers relating to 38 studies. Most of the research was undertaken in the field of pharmacy practice and over half of the studies investigated the perspectives of different stakeholders using questionnaires or qualitative methods. Conclusion The pharmacist in general practices initiative is still at an early stage of implementation, further research and more in-depth findings are still required. However, from this small number of studies, the common barriers and facilitators to the implementation can be identified. The review also lists mechanisms that will be needed to ensure the effective implementation of this initiative

Perspectives of pharmacists in general practice from qualitative focus groups with patients during a pilot study

Background Utilising skill mix in general practice is proposed as a solution to the demand-supply issue. Pharmacists can play an important role in this context leading to an increase in training and funding for independent prescriber roles. A role for Pharmacists in General Practice was funded, piloted and evaluated by NHSE from 2015.Aim What is the patient perspective of pharmacists in patient facing roles in general practice in the UK?Design & Setting Focus group interviews exploring patient perspectives on the pharmacist role.Method 33 patients, five focus group interviews (January-December 2016). Data was iteratively analysed using the one sheet of paper technique.Results While public are aware of the primary care crisis, they are less well informed about potential solutions. Data showed patients primarily sought access to a clinician over expressing a preference for any type of clinician. Low awareness was shown about the role and there was initial confusion about pharmacist’s roles. Acceptability levels were high.Pharmacists add value and provide an expert medication focused service which can have a positive impact on medicines use.Patients reported benefit from longer appointments, feeling they weren’t rushed, and that all their conditions were being considered holistically. They trusted pharmacists as experts in medication and trust was consolidated over time. Regular coaching from a pharmacist could lead to improved patient self-monitoring and self-care.Conclusion (implications) Pharmacists can add value to the general practice team and this is recognised by patients