Unlocking the Value: Communicating the Value of the Pharmacist to the Patient

Objective: To evaluate student pharmacists’ perspectives of the value that they provide to their patients. Methods: Third year (P3) professional pharmacy students were required to complete an educational workshop programme integrated into the Professional Practice Skills Laboratory. Prior to, and after the completion of the audio- visual teaching, an Institutional Review Board approved, anonymous, voluntary paper-based survey was distributed to all students. These surveys were intended to assess the perceptions of pharmacy students towards the value of the services they provide. The authors examined student opinions regarding the services most important to their patients, as well as their response to the contents of the workshop. The post-workshop survey also evaluated the impact of the exercise on the students’ ability to have gained new insights on addressing the issues they might have in communicating their value and their ideas regarding the ideal patient attitude to the services provided by the pharmacist. The survey was analysed descriptively. Results: Four hundred and seventy-seven students completed the survey. In the baseline survey, 37% of the students believed that providing accurate clinical information was the most critical service they provided to the patients, with 50% of the students highlighting cost and insurance questions as the most frustrating aspect of their daily routine. The educational workshop was generally well received with 66% of the students strongly agreeing that the speaker met the goals. In the post-workshop survey, 77.7% of the students reported being better equipped to communicate their value to patients by moving the conversation from other issues to the clinical aspects of care. In the baseline survey, 30.2% of the students indicated that clinical information and accurate dispensing were the most important services to the patients. As a result of the exercise, a higher proportion of students (66%) in the post-workshop survey wanted this to be the most valuable service according to the patients. Conclusions: Clinical aspects of care were of most value according to the pharmacy students. As a result of the educational workshop, students gained a new perspective to shift the conversations with the patients to these aspects. The workshop demonstrated a positive impact on student perceptions of ideal patient attitude towards the role of the pharmacists

A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Perceptions of Interprofessional Education in Medical Students

Background and Objectives: With the recent paradigm shift in medicine away from traditional hierarchies and patient-physician dyads, there is increased interest in training students to work interprofessionally. A primary focus for improving collaboration in health care is increasing exposure to formalized interprofessional education (IPE) across health professions during training. This study focuses on the effect of formal and informal curricula on medical student attitudes toward IPE. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of all undergraduate medical students was conducted using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS). Results: Throughout all years of medical school, students agreed with the importance of interprofessional education. Fourth-year medical students had higher total RIPLS scores (64.29 versus 61.0; p=0.007), as well as higher scores on multiple individual RIPLS questions than first-year students. Conclusions: Medical students become more enthusiastic about IPE as their training progresses. Both formal and informal educational opportunities contribute to this effect

A Team-Based Practicum Bringing Together Students Across Educational Institutions and Health Professions

Objective. To assess student perceptions of teamwork during an interprofessional exercise and to evaluate if students could identify domestic violence through a standardized patient interview. Design. Medical, pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy, and social work students were assigned to teams to interview and examine a patient with a “cut on the hand” later revealed a result of domestic violence. They also practiced suturing technique and developed a patient care plan. A postexercise survey was administered. Assessment. From 70% to 94% of students surveyed agreed or strongly agreed, respectively, that their responsibilities were clear. All (100%) recognized the benefits of team-based care. Only 38% of the medical students reported team members providing insight into domestic violence, and 52% did not recognize team members as resources for these cases. Conclusion. Students gained perspective of knowledge and responsibilities of each team member. However, the results suggest further enhancements of curriculum related to domestic violence are needed

Designing Interprofessional Education Curriculum Using Multiple Conceptual Frameworks

With the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the impending physician and nursing shortage, health professional students will increasingly find themselves working together in teams to care for patients. Education at the undergraduate level is necessary for students to perform effectively in teams as practicing clinicians. We describe our approach to designing curriculum for health professional students, namely using educational conceptual frameworks such as Kotter’s 8-step Change Model, Kern’s 6-step approach to designing curriculum, and Miller’s pyramid. This approach is adaptable and transferable to other health professional schools to aid in interprofessional curriculum development

An Introductory Interprofessional Exercise for Healthcare Students

Objective: To evaluate healthcare students’ perceptions of an introductory interprofessional exercise and their team dynamics. Design: A workshop was developed, combining second-year medical students, fourth-year nursing students, and third-year pharmacy students to work as an interdisciplinary team. The teams alternated between working together on patient cases focusing on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, and on the evaluation of standardized pneumonia patients. Teams were given the patients’ health information and no other instructions. A faculty member and the standardized patient evaluated the students using a teamwork global rating scale. Assessment: Student survey results showed a positive response to interprofessional teamwork. The faculty members and standardized patients reported that the students worked as a cohesive unit and demonstrated good team communication. Conclusions: This introductory interprofessional experience had a positive impact on the students’ understanding of collaboration and teamwork. This type of experience will help students foster future collaborations as healthcare providers

Impact of an Interdisciplinary Practice Laboratory on Pharmacy and Nursing Students’ Perceptions of Health Care Roles

Objectives: To evaluate healthcare students\u27 perceptions of an introductory interprofessional exercise and their team dynamics. Design: A workshop was developed, combining second-year medical students, fourth-year nursing students, and third-year pharmacy students to work as an interdisciplinary team. The teams alternated between working together on patient cases focusing on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, and on the evaluation of standardized pneumonia patients. Teams were given the patients\u27 health information and no other instructions. A faculty member and the standardized patient evaluated the students using a teamwork global rating scale. Assessment: Student survey results showed a positive response to interprofessional teamwork. The faculty members and standardized patients reported that the students worked as a cohesive unit and demonstrated good team communication. Conclusions: This introductory interprofessional experience had a positive impact on the students’ understanding of collaboration and teamwork. This type of experience will help students foster future collaborations as healthcare providers

Climate Quality Broadband and Narrowband Solar Reflected Radiance Calibration Between Sensors in Orbit

vAs the potential impacts of global climate change become more clear [1], the need to determine the accuracy of climate prediction over decade-to-century time scales has become an urgent and critical challenge. The most critical tests of climate model predictions will occur using observations of decadal changes in climate forcing, response, and feedback variables. Many of these key climate variables are observed by remotely sensing the global distribution of reflected solar spectral and broadband radiance. These "reflected solar" variables include aerosols, clouds, radiative fluxes, snow, ice, vegetation, ocean color, and land cover. Achieving sufficient satellite instrument accuracy, stability, and overlap to rigorously observe decadal change signals has proven very difficult in most cases and has not yet been achieved in others [2]. One of the earliest efforts to make climate quality observations was for Earth Radiation Budget: Nimbus 6/7 in the late 1970s, ERBE in the 1980s/90s, and CERES in 2000s are examples of the most complete global records. The recent CERES data products have carried out the most extensive intercomparisons because if the need to merge data from up to 11 instruments (CERES, MODIS, geostationary imagers) on 7 spacecraft (Terra, Aqua, and 5 geostationary) for any given month. In order to achieve climate calibration for cloud feedbacks, the radiative effect of clear-sky, all-sky, and cloud radiative effect must all be made with very high stability and accuracy. For shortwave solar reflected flux, even the 1% CERES broadband absolute accuracy (1-sigma confidence bound) is not sufficient to allow gaps in the radiation record for decadal climate change. Typical absolute accuracy for the best narrowband sensors like SeaWiFS, MISR, and MODIS range from 2 to 4% (1-sigma). IPCC greenhouse gas radiative forcing is approx. 0.6 W/sq m per decade or 0.6% of the global mean shortwave reflected flux, so that a 50% cloud feedback would change the global reflected flux by approx. 0.3 W/sq m or 0.3% per decade in broadband SW calibration change. Recent results comparing CERES reflected flux changes with MODIS, MISR, and SeaWiFS narrowband changes concluded that only SeaWiFS and CERES were approaching sufficient stability in calibration for decadal climate change [3]. Results using deep convective clouds in the optically thick limit as a stability target may prove very effective for improving past data sets like ISCCP. Results for intercalibration of geostationary imagers to CERES using an entire month of regional nearly coincident data demonstrates new approaches to constraining the calibration of current geostationary imagers. The new Decadal Survey Mission CLARREO is examining future approaches to a "NIST-in-Orbit" approach of very high absolute accuracy reference radiometers that cover the full solar and infrared spectrum at high spectral resolution but at low spatial resolution. Sampling studies have shown that a precessing CLARREO mission could calibrate other geo and leo reflected solar radiation and thermal infrared sensors