Effective Modification of a Nonprescription Medicines Course to Optimize Learning of Millennial Generation Students

Objective: To describe examples of effective teaching strategies utilized within a required nonprescription therapeutics course, in order to accommodate learning characteristics of Millennials. Case Study: Instructors identified unique characteristics of Millennial generation students through literature review and focused educational workshops. These characteristics include the desire for active learning where didactic lectures make a connection to life, the incorporation of technology, and assignments that focus on team work. Course modifications were then made based on these characteristics including redesign of large group course lectures with incorporation of patient cases, inclusion of a variety of online components including the opportunity to provide course feedback, and active learning small group projects within workshop sections. Evaluation:Student evaluation of the course and instructors significantly improved after introducing changes to the course compared to previous years. Each component of the student evaluation resulted in a statistically significant change in mean score. Verbal and written evaluations indicated a very positive learning experience for students. Grade mean (3.3 vs. 3.8, p Conclusions: By identifying characteristics of Millennial generation student learners, traditional teaching methods can be modified in order to enhance retention of material and optimize their learning process. Course changes improved the learning experience for students and instructors. Instructors' willingness to evaluate generational differences and adapt teaching enhances the learning experiences in the classroom for both students and instructors.   Type: Case Stud

Effective Modification of a Nonprescription Medicines Course to Optimize Learning of Millennial Generation Students

Objective: To describe examples of effective teaching strategies utilized within a required nonprescription therapeutics course, in order to accommodate learning characteristics of Millennials. Case Study: Instructors identified unique characteristics of Millennial generation students through literature review and focused educational workshops. These characteristics include the desire for active learning where didactic lectures make a connection to life, the incorporation of technology, and assignments that focus on team work. Course modifications were then made based on these characteristics including redesign of large group course lectures with incorporation of patient cases, inclusion of a variety of online components including the opportunity to provide course feedback, and active learning small group projects within workshop sections. Evaluation:Student evaluation of the course and instructors significantly improved after introducing changes to the course compared to previous years. Each component of the student evaluation resulted in a statistically significant change in mean score. Verbal and written evaluations indicated a very positive learning experience for students. Grade mean (3.3 vs. 3.8, p Conclusions: By identifying characteristics of Millennial generation student learners, traditional teaching methods can be modified in order to enhance retention of material and optimize their learning process. Course changes improved the learning experience for students and instructors. Instructors' willingness to evaluate generational differences and adapt teaching enhances the learning experiences in the classroom for both students and instructors.   Type: Case Stud

Delivering a Pilot Smoking Cessation Program through the Patient Portal of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) at a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH)

Pharmacists are providing clinical services in nontraditional practice settings including the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). PCMHs strive to improve patient outcomes in a number of ways, including through innovative use of health information technology (HIT) and by encouraging patients to take an active role in their health care. This paper describes a pharmacist-directed smoking cessation program at a PCMH that utilizes HIT to engage patients in the smoking cessation process and lessons learned from implementation of the program to guide other pharmacists considering implementing a similar program. Secure messaging through the patient portal of the electronic medical record (EMR) can be an effective way to deliver a smoking cessation program for appropriately selected patients and aligns with PCMH standards as the program uses HIT to engage patients in self-management.   Type: Original Researc

Evaluation of provider documentation of medication management in a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH)

Purpose: The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has standards for recognizing Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) including one for medication management. Study objectives were to identify if and how providers within a PCMH recognized under the 2008 guidelines were documenting components of medication management to meet NCQA’s 2011 requirements including: 1) providing information about new prescriptions to >80% of patients; 2) assessing understanding of medications for >50% of patients; and 3) assessing response and barriers to medication adherence for >50% of patients. Methods: Physician and pharmacist-led patient visits from a family medicine office, from February 1 to August 1, 2012 were assessed. Patients over 18 years old taking at least one medication were included. A retrospective chart review was performed to assess documented components of medication management. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data. Results: A systematic sampling of 450 physician-led and 195 pharmacist-led patient visits, demonstrated providers did not meet documentation goals for providing patients information on new prescriptions (65% pharmacist, 24% physician, 36% of total provider notes) or for assessment of patients’ understanding of medications (9% pharmacist 12% physician, 11% of total provider notes). Individually each type of provider did not meet the goal of assessing patient response and barriers to adherence to medication, but with combined intervention by the pharmacists and the physicians, the site was able to surpass NCQA’s percentage goal (57% and 58%). Conclusions: No components of medication management are well documented. Using the electronic medical record, pharmacists may be able to develop documentation tools and assist sites to meet NCQA’s goals for medication management

Practical management of anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation has become more complex due to the introduction of new anticoagulant agents, the number and kinds of patients requiring therapy, and the interactions of those patients in the matrix of care. The management of anticoagulation has become a team sport involving multiple specialties in multiple sites of care. The American College of Cardiology, through the College\u27s Anticoagulation Initiative, convened a roundtable of experts from multiple specialties to discuss topics important to the management of patients requiring anticoagulation and to make expert recommendations on issues such as the initiation and interruption of anticoagulation, quality of anticoagulation care, management of major and minor bleeding, and treatment of special populations. The attendees continued to work toward consensus on these topics, and present the key findings of this roundtable in a state-of- the-art review focusing on the practical aspects of anticoagulation care for the patient with atrial fibrillation

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at s√=8 TeV with ATLAS

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations

Evidence for the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to tau leptons with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for H → τ τ decays are presented, based on the full set of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and 2012. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 and 20.3 fb−1 at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV respectively. All combinations of leptonic (τ → `νν¯ with ` = e, µ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ν) tau decays are considered. An excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.5 (3.4) standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the direct coupling of the recently discovered Higgs boson to fermions. The measured signal strength, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, of µ = 1.43 +0.43 −0.37 is consistent with the predicted Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model

Measurement of the top pair production cross section in 8 TeV proton-proton collisions using kinematic information in the lepton plus jets final state with ATLAS

A measurement is presented of the $t\bar{t}$ inclusive production cross-section in $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV using data collected by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement was performed in the lepton+jets final state using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$. The cross-section was obtained using a likelihood discriminant fit and $b$-jet identification was used to improve the signal-to-background ratio. The inclusive $t\bar{t}$ production cross-section was measured to be $260\pm 1{\textrm{(stat.)}} ^{+22}_{-23} {\textrm{(syst.)}}\pm 8{\textrm{(lumi.)}}\pm 4{\mathrm{(beam)}}$ pb assuming a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV, in good agreement with the theoretical prediction of $253^{+13}_{-15}$ pb. The $t\bar{t}\to (e,\mu)+{\mathrm{jets}}$ production cross-section in the fiducial region determined by the detector acceptance is also reported.Comment: Published version, 19 pages plus author list (35 pages total), 3 figures, 2 tables, all figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/TOPQ-2013-06