Preface

The University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics (PWPL) is an occasional series published by the Penn Linguistics Club, the graduate student organization of the Linguistics Department of the University of Pennsylvania. The series has included volumes of previously unpublished work, or work in progress, by linguists with an ongoing affiliation with the Department, as well as volumes of papers from the NWAV conference and the Penn Linguistics Colloquium. This volume contains selected papers from NWAV 34, held from October 20-­‐23, 2005, at New York University. Thank you to Lukasz Abramowicz, Aaron Dinkin, Keelan Evanini, Giang Nguyen, Tatjana Scheffler, and Suzanne Evans Wagner, for their help in editing this volume

Evaluation of the entrustable professional activities (EPAs) of the population health promoter domain by North Dakota pharmacists

Objective.  Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are a list of professional tasks (with associated competency ratings) that pharmacy educational organizations support, and accreditation organizations require, for assessment by colleges and schools of pharmacy. This manuscript assesses the perceived frequency of performing EPAs in the population health promoter (PHP) domain among pharmacists practicing in North Dakota. Methods.  This survey assessed the self-reported EPA activities (inclusive of the PHP domain) of registered pharmacists living and practicing in North Dakota. There were 990 pharmacists surveyed, and 457 (46.1%) of pharmacists responded. Results. Within the PHP domain, pharmacists reported performing “Minimize adverse drug events and medication errors” most frequently (mean=3.4, SD=2.0), followed by “Ensure that patients have been immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases” (mean=2.3, SD 2.3), “Maximize the appropriate use of medications in a population” (mean=2.2, SD 2.3), and “Identify patients at risk for prevalent diseases in a population” (mean=1.3, SD=1.9). In these Core EPAs PHP domains, the clinical pharmacists reported the highest level, followed by pharmacy managers and staff pharmacists. Conclusion. Pharmacists in North Dakota reported that EPAs in the PHP domain are practiced regularly. Thus, EPAs in the PHP domain have potential as a means to assess outcomes in pharmacy education and practice.

Appraisal of the entrustable professional activities (EPAs) patient care provider domain by North Dakota pharmacists

Background: Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are the latest addition to a list of professional competencies that pharmacy educational organizations support, and accreditation organizations require, for assessment by colleges and schools of pharmacy. Objective: The study’s objective is to assess the use of Core EPAs in the patient care domain (by practice setting, position, and preceptor status) in contemporary pharmacy practice. Methods: This survey assessed the EPA activities of pharmacists practicing in North Dakota. The pharmacists were asked “how many times in the past 30 days have you delivered the following services in your practice setting?” Response options were: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 or more times. Results: Of 990 potential respondents, 457 pharmacists (46.1%) returned a survey, and 107 (10.8%) answered every survey item in the patient care domain. Respondents reported that the highest rated activity items “Collect information to identify a patient's medication-related problems and health-related needs,” and “Analyze information to determine the effects of medication therapy, identify medication-related problems, and prioritize health-related needs” were performed an average of 3.9 times per week (SD=1.8), and 3.8 times per week (SD=2.0), respectively. Both of these items, were reported for 70% of the respondents at 5 or more times per week. For these items, the highest reported practice setting was ‘other’ practice settings (e.g., long-term care, community health centers) followed by chains, hospitals, and independent pharmacies. By position, clinical pharmacists and preceptors reported the highest activity levels for most EPAs and supportive example tasks.  Conclusions: This study provides empirical evidence suggesting (but not proving) that EPAs have potential as a means to assess outcomes in pharmacy education and practice. Our study sets the stage for future work that further refines and assesses core EPA activities and supportive example tasks to measure the impact of how this process relates to outcomes of care