Study of the approved degrees in pharmacy

La implementación de los estudios universitarios al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES), se ha regulado en España con la publicación del Real Decreto 1393/2007, que establece la ordenación de las enseñanzas universitarias oficiales de Grado, Master y Doctorado. En este contexto, el Ministerio de Educación ya ha aprobado los primeros estudios de Grado en Farmacia adaptados al EEES de algunas universidades españolas. El objetivo de nuestro trabajo es analizar los planes de estudio de los títulos de Grado en Farmacia que han sido aprobados. Hemos estudiado la planificación de las enseñanzas en cuanto a los Módulos requeridos para la verificación del título oficial, así como otros Módulos propios. También hemos analizado el porcentaje de carga lectiva de las materias en el plan de estudios, atendiendo a su carácter: básicas, obligatorias y optativas. Por último, hemos examinado la selección de las materias que constituyen los módulos. Podemos concluir que los planes de estudio de las universidades analizadas presentan una gran uniformidad en cuanto a los contenidos formativos. La mayor diversidad en la trayectoria curricular tiene lugar en la selección de las asignaturas optativas, así como en los Módulos de carácter humanístico, estos últimos frecuentes en las universidades privadas.To comply with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in Spain, a law was published (RD 1393/2007) which regulates official studies for degrees, masters and doctorates. Several new Pharmacy degrees have been approved by the Ministry for Education according to this law, both in public and private universities. The objective of our work was to analyse these Pharmacy degrees, paying attention to the content of the various modules, as well as to the relative percentage of teaching load within each topic in the curricula according to its nature: basic, obligatory and optional. We can conclude that the degrees of all universities analysed are very homogeneous, particularly in regard to the formative content of the established modules, in accordance to the general guidelines. The greater variation seems to be located in optional subjects as well as in Art and Humanities modules, the latter being quite common in private universities

Student perception of our teaching strategies

La implantación de los nuevos grados, dentro del EEES, supone un aumento en la participación del alumno en su aprendizaje y la introducción de nuevas estrategias docentes. Debido a ello, nuestro objetivo ha sido valorar la opinión de los alumnos sobre tres aspectos: las estrategias docentes utilizadas en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, la metodología de evaluación y la importancia que otorgan a la adquisición de competencias transversales, como hablar en público o trabajar en equipo. Para ello, se ha realizado un estudio, a través de una encuesta voluntaria y anónima a los alumnos de tres asignaturas de Farmacia. De los datos obtenidos destacamos que un 93.1% afirmó que la asistencia a clase ayuda a comprender la asignatura y que un 82.8% consideró que la participación activa en el aula le ayuda a aprender. Respecto a las estrategias docentes, los alumnos eligieron las explicaciones del profesor y la pizarra como el método más útil para su aprendizaje, quedando en segundo lugar la realización de ejercicios, prácticas y en último lugar, las presentaciones en Power Point. Como conclusión, los alumnos valoran positivamente aquellas estrategias que fomentan su participación, así como el sistema de evaluación continua. Sin embargo, hemos de resaltar la alta valoración otorgada a las explicaciones del profesor en la pizarra. Por ello, los datos obtenidos deberían hacernos reflexionar sobre la importancia de incluir nuevas estrategias docentes que fomenten la participación del alumno, pero sin olvidar, el valor del que quizá sea el instrumento docente más antiguo, la pizarra y el profesor.The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) will change our teaching methodology with the implementation of new teaching strategies and greater participation of students in the learning process. The objective of our study is to evaluate the students’ views in three main areas: a) teaching strategies promoted by the lecturer for the teaching/learning process, b) evaluation methods and c) achieve good competence in other areas such as oral communication skills or team-work. Thus we designed a questionnaire which was filled by Pharmacy students from various years (n=118; 40.5% males and 59.5% females) registered in several subjects. Analysis of data revealed that 93.1% considered that attendance to lectures helped them to understand the topics covered. A good proportion (82.8%) was also of the view that participating in lectures was a good aid to learning. The students valued the teachers explanations and the use of the blackboard as the most useful for them to learn followed by practicals and exercises and lastly by PowerPoint presentations. Our data suggest that students value strategies that make them participate in their own learning process as well as a system of continuing evaluation. The results obtained highlight the importance of teaching strategies which stimulate student participation but also the high value the students allocate to the most classic and characteristic features of any classroom: teacher and blackboard

Implementation of Classroom of Pharmacy at the Faculty of Health Sciences

El Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) supone un cambio en nuestras metodologías docentes, que deben orientarse hacia una mayor participación del alumno en el proceso de enseñanzaaprendizaje, así como a satisfacer la necesidad de formación del mundo laboral. Por ello, y en base a la necesidad de nuestra Universidad de adaptar la docencia de Farmacia al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior, la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, ha desarrollado un proyecto para implantar un aula que simule una Oficina de Farmacia. Entre los perfiles laborales del farmacéutico, el de Oficina de Farmacia es el más frecuente, por ser esta la ocupación laboral mayoritaria. La labor en las farmacias comunitarias consiste básicamente en la conservación, dispensación, asesoramiento y elaboración de medicamentos. Todo ello, unido al ejercicio de la atención farmacéutica, conlleva una gran carga de responsabilidad, un conocimiento y vigilancia de la legislación establecida al respecto y una base científica y técnica importante. La farmacia es, a su vez, un centro de educación y prevención sanitaria, dietética y cosmética. Con el objetivo de que nuestros alumnos desarrollen todas las competencias necesarias para el farmacéutico en la Facultad de Salud se implantó el Aula de la Farmacia.The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) represents a shift in our teaching methodology, which should now be steered towards a greater participation of students in the teaching-learning process and should satisfy the employment market’s need for trained professionals. In this context, our university has sought to adapt its pharmacy teaching programme to the EHEA, and so the Faculty of Health Sciences of the CEU Cardenal Herrera University has developed a project to create a space that simulates a working pharmacy. Among the different professional profiles within the discipline of pharmacy, a position in a chemist’s/drugstore is the most common, as the majority of pharmacists are employed as such. The work of community pharmacies basically consists of the storing, dispensing and preparation of medication. These tasks, combined with the pharmaceutical care provided to patients and customers, involve a great deal of responsibility that depends on knowledge and safeguarding of the current legislation and a solid scientific and technical training. A pharmacy is, at the same time, a centre of education and prevention in health, diet and cosmetics. With all of this in mind, the Pharmacy Room was created by the Health Sciences Faculty with the objective of allowing our students to develop all the skills expected of a pharmacist

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele. © 2022, The Author(s)

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele