Role-emerging placements in pharmacy undergraduate education: perceptions of students

Context: Role-emerging placements (REPs) can be a unique opportunity for pharmacy students to understand patient care issues and see the value of a multi-disciplinary team. Description: Optional REPs were piloted in an MPharm degree course, in a range of day hospitals and patient groups. This project aimed to evaluate students’ perceptions on the placement’s contribution to their professional development. Evaluation: Twenty percent of the 59 students who attended the placement participated in two focus groups. High satisfaction with their REP was reported, with an emphasis on increased understanding of the role of multidisciplinary teams, patient perceptions and impact on pharmaceutical care. Although introducing a new scheme brought some challenges, these are not insurmountable. As such, the benefits of REPs are likely to be ongoing and the results are therefore encouraging for other Schools of Pharmacy. Future plans: REPs will become an integral part of this University’s MPharm syllabus

Pharmacy students' reflections on a 'mock medicines' activity: Exploring intentional and unintentional nonadherence

Objective. To engage pharmacy students in a ‘mock medicines’ teaching activity to increase their understanding of the patients’ perspectives of medicine-taking. To explore students’ awareness of intentional reasons for non-adherence. Methods. Students were given one of five different dosing regimes and asked to take the mock medicine (TicTacs©) over a one-week period. They completed a data capture form to log each dose taken or missed and provide reasons for this. An adherence score was calculated and all feedback transcribed for further analysis. Results. Seventy-six out of 115 students submitted forms, where adherence ranged from 4 to 100% (mean 88.7, SD=19.77). Nine factors relating to unintentional non-adherence were identified compared to only one for intentional non-adherence. Conclusions. Students engaged well with this activity showing a high percentage adherence but this was not related to the complexity of dosing schedule. Students demonstrated more awareness of the unintentional reasons for non-adherence than intentional

Role-emerging placements in pharmacy undergraduate education: perceptions of students

Context: Role-emerging placements (REPs) can be a unique opportunity for pharmacy students to understand patient care issues and see the value of a multi-disciplinary team. Description: Optional REPs were piloted in an MPharm degree course, in a range of day hospitals and patient groups. This project aimed to evaluate students’ perceptions on the placement’s contribution to their professional development. Evaluation: Twenty percent of the 59 students who attended the placement participated in two focus groups. High satisfaction with their REP was reported, with an emphasis on increased understanding of the role of multidisciplinary teams, patient perceptions and impact on pharmaceutical care. Although introducing a new scheme brought some challenges, these are not insurmountable. As such, the benefits of REPs are likely to be ongoing and the results are therefore encouraging for other Schools of Pharmacy. Future plans: REPs will become an integral part of this University’s MPharm syllabus

Perceptions of faculty in health care and social sciences on teaching international students

Background Increased cultural diversity of higher education (HE) students has created both learning opportunities and teaching challenges for vocational health care programs. An internationalized curriculum reflects sociocultural issues in professional practice and enhances intercultural competency amongst students. However, the literature is limited in seeking the key perspective of those delivering the curriculum. This study explores the awareness of health care teaching staff on issues related to internationalization, perceived responsibility in supporting international students, and teaching practices toward an inclusive curriculum. Methods An anonymous questionnaire was developed, consisting of different types of questions (Y/N, Likert scale, and multiple choice) with opportunities for free text on each main theme. The questionnaire was sent to all 205 staff members with a teaching remit at Cardiff University Schools of Postgraduate Medicine, Healthcare Sciences, Pharmacy, and Social Sciences. Key findings In all, 102 responses were received. Despite 70% of respondents feeling that the responsibility for an improved learning experience for international students lies beyond them—with the University, their School, or students themselves—inclusive teaching practices that consider cultural diversity are widely reported. Some individuals feel unprepared to teach international students, citing a lack of cultural knowledge and training. The proportion of international students is perceived as the most important aspect of internationalization. Other key components of national and institutional HE strategies, such as “internationalization abroad”, appear to be relatively unimportant. Findings from this study provide a basis for all higher education institutions educating health and social care professionals to reflect critically on the realities of engaging with the internationalization of vocational programs

Pharmacy students' reflections on a 'mock medicines' activity: Exploring intentional and unintentional nonadherence

Objective. To engage pharmacy students in a ‘mock medicines’ teaching activity to increase their understanding of the patients’ perspectives of medicine-taking. To explore students’ awareness of intentional reasons for non-adherence. Methods. Students were given one of five different dosing regimes and asked to take the mock medicine (TicTacs©) over a one-week period. They completed a data capture form to log each dose taken or missed and provide reasons for this. An adherence score was calculated and all feedback transcribed for further analysis. Results. Seventy-six out of 115 students submitted forms, where adherence ranged from 4 to 100% (mean 88.7, SD=19.77). Nine factors relating to unintentional non-adherence were identified compared to only one for intentional non-adherence. Conclusions. Students engaged well with this activity showing a high percentage adherence but this was not related to the complexity of dosing schedule. Students demonstrated more awareness of the unintentional reasons for non-adherence than intentional

New roles in pharmacy - learning from the All Wales Common Ailments Scheme

Objectives The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of stakeholders on a national pilot of a new service, the ‘Choose Pharmacy’ Common Ailments Service (CAS) in Wales. Methods Methods used were semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in development and delivery of the CAS. Snowball sampling was employed and invites were extended to eight of 13 pharmacies offering CAS in Cwm Taf LHB, the practice managers at two associated general practitioner surgeries and two local and national level commissioners. Key findings The benefits of encouraging self-care by patients were widely recognised in terms of their impact on patients, health professionals and wider society. Although some challenges of introducing a new service were identified, these did not appear to be insurmountable. Conclusions CAS was welcomed by stakeholders in terms of its potential benefits. Results are therefore encouraging for policy makers involved in the implementation of other new roles within community pharmacy in the UK and beyond

Evaluation of the Cwm Taf University Health Board Domiciliary Medicines Use Review (Dom-MUR) Service

The Medicines Use Review (MUR) Service is an Advanced Service in the community pharmacy contract in the United Kingdom (UK). It involves the pharmacist reviewing a patient’s use of their medication whose purpose is to improve patient understanding and adherence to medication and reduce medication waste. Since November 2012, the Cwm Taf University Health Board (UHB) in Wales has commissioned a domiciliary MUR (Dom-MUR) service, thereby providing housebound patients with equal access to MURs to those able to visit a community pharmacy. We aimed to identify the types of issues and interventions carried out by pharmacists as part of the Dom-MUR service. A database of Dom-MUR entries from December 2012 – March 2014 was obtained from the UHB. Issues and outcomes arising from Dom-MURs were categorised. Data was quantitatively analysed using Microsoft Excel® and GraphPad Prism®. Data from 194 Dom-MURs was included in the database. The mean number of issues identified per patient was 1.96 (SD±1.41). The three most commonly identified issues were related to ‘Patient Adherence (29%, n=110), ‘Patient Education/ Monitoring’ (21%, n=79) and ‘Medication Excess in Home’ (12%, n=47). The mean number of outcomes per patient was 1.97 (SD±1.48). Of the outcomes, 32% (n=122) involved the pharmacist contacting the GP surgery i.e. they could not resolve these issues themselves. Issues assigned to ‘Issues with Patient’s Condition’ were statistically less likely to be resolved by the pharmacist. The Cwm Taf UHB Dom-MUR service has the potential to be of value in terms of more appropriate and cost effective care. Developments within community pharmacy, such as access to patients’ health records and pharmacist independent prescribing, may benefit this service with the potential for pharmacists to resolve more issues themselves