Pharmacy academics' perspectives toward interprofessional Education prior to its implementation in Qatar: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of faculty members and academic administrators, at Qatar University College of Pharmacy, towards interprofessional education (IPE) and collaborative practice by identifying enablers, barriers and resources needed to implement IPE within the pharmacy curriculum. METHODS: A qualitative methodology was employed using focus groups discussions. Two focus groups were conducted, one focus group with faculty members (n?=?5) and another focus group with academic administrators (n?=?5) at Qatar University College of Pharmacy. Focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim by an independent experienced transcriber and validated by the study principal researcher. Thematic analysis was undertaken to generate key themes and subthemes. RESULTS: The study participants highlighted a number of enablers and challenges encountered as a result of the initial IPE events, for integrating IPE into the pharmacy curriculum. Many provided recommendations and suggestions for effective implementation of IPE. Analysis of the results focused on three main categories: enablers, barriers and recommendations. Overall, seven major themes were identified: 1) intrinsic enabling factors (initial IPE experiences, cross-appointed faculty, accreditation); 2) extrinsic enabling factors (national policy & legislation and advances in pharmacists' role); 3) student related benefits (roles & responsibilities and agents for change); 4) student hindering factors (student engagement, perceptions & attitudes and gender issues); 5) partnering academic institutions (logistical issues, familiarity with other curricula and commitment); 6) practice environment (hierarchy, healthcare professionals' attitude and lack of collaborative practice) and 7) IPE delivery (dedicated structure, IPE curriculum and extrinsic support). CONCLUSION: Pharmacy academics had positive perceptions towards IPE suggesting a high level of support and readiness to pursue IPE and an opportunity for pharmacy academics to drive the IPE agenda forward in Qatar. However, a number of challenges were reported. These are important to consider to ensure the development of effective strategies for the integration and enhancement of IPE and collaborative practice

Analysis of Sentinel-1 radiometric stability and quality for land surface applications

International audienceLand monitoring using temporal series of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images requires radiometrically well calibrated sensors. In this paper, the radiometric stability of the new SAR Sentinel-1A 'S-1A' sensor was first assessed by analyzing temporal variations of the backscattering coefficient (sigma°) returned from invariant targets. Second, the radiometric level of invariant targets was compared from S-1A and Radarsat-2 "RS-2" data. The results show three stable sub-time series of S-1A data. The first (between 1 October 2014 and 19 March 2015) and third (between 25 November 2015 and 1 February 2016) sub-time series have almost the same mean sigma°-values (a difference lower than 0.3 dB). The mean sigma°-value of the second sub-time series (between 19 March 2015 and 25 November 2015) is higher than that of the first and the third sub-time series by roughly 0.9 dB. Moreover, our results show that the stability of each sub-time series is better than 0.48 dB. In addition, the results show that S-1A images of the first and third sub-time series appear to be well calibrated in comparison to RS-2 data, with a difference between S-1A and RS-2 lower than 0.3 dB. However, the S-1A images of the second sub-time series have sigma°-values that are higher than those from RS-2 by roughly 1 dB

Pharmacy students' attitudes toward pharmaceutical care in Qatar

Objectives: The study objectives were to investigate Qatar pharmacy students' attitudes toward pharmaceutical care (PC), to identify the factors that influence their attitudes, and to recognize their perceived barriers for PC provision. Methods: A cross-sectional and online survey of Qatar pharmacy students was conducted. Results: Over 4 weeks, 46 surveys were submitted (88% response rate). All respondents agreed that the pharmacist's primary responsibility is to prevent and resolve medication therapy problems. Most respondents believed that PC provision is professionally rewarding and that all pharmacists should provide PC (93% and 91% of respondents, respectively). Highly perceived barriers for PC provision included lack of access to patient information (76%), inadequate drug information sources (55%), and time constraints (53%). Professional year and practical experience duration were inversely significantly associated with four and five statements, respectively, out of the 13 Standard Pharmaceutical Care Attitudes Survey statements, including the statements related to the value of PC, and its benefit in improving patient health and pharmacy practitioners' careers. Conclusion: Qatar pharmacy students had positive attitudes toward PC. Efforts should be exerted to overcome their perceived barriers.Scopu

Reducing health provider stereotypes through undergraduate interprofessional education

ObjectiveStereotypes among health professionals can jeopardize the delivery of collaborative healthcare and the achievement of positive patient outcomes. However, interprofessional education (IPE) can promote early clarification of roles, and understanding and mutual respect among trainees from different health disciplines. We studied the effects of IPE activities on the views and attitudes of pharmacy students toward nurse- and physician-trainees. MethodsPharmacy students completed a structured written reflection exercise immediately following two separate IPE activities with nursing and medical students, both oriented around diabetes care. We conducted an inductive content analysis of these texts to identify key themes according to the domains of the contact hypothesis theoretical framework: organizational authority, common goals, intergroup cooperation, equal group status and intergroup status. Pharmacy students were also asked how these IPE activities have influenced their views regarding their future pharmacy practice. ResultsPharmacy students felt that their groups had cooperated to solve the common patient care goals in each IPE activity, and noted no distinction between the nursing and medical students. However, through either explicit or implicit negotiation of overlapping roles, many pharmacy students ultimately assumed deferential positions relative to medical students. Overall, pharmacy students' attitudes and views regarding the abilities and roles of nursing and medical students in patient care were favorably altered through the IPE activities. Notably, nurses' drug knowledge and diagnostic abilities of nurses and physicians’ familiarity with the primary literature and prescribing regimens was previously under-rated but became recognized after IPE activities. ConclusionPharmacy students’ stereotypical views towards nursing and medical students were positively shifted when IPE activity conditions were optimized for intergroup contact.أهداف البحث يمكن للقوالب النمطية للمهنيين الصحيين أن تؤثر سلبا على تقديم الرعاية الصحية التعاونية والنتائج الإيجابية للمرضى. ومع ذلك، يمكن أن يكون التعليم البيني مفيدا في تعزيز التوضيح المبكر لأدوار العاملين الصحيين والتفاهم والاحترام المتبادل بين المتدربين من مختلف التخصصات الصحية. درسنا تأثير أنشطة التعليم البيني على آراء ومواقف طلاب الصيدلة تجاه الممرضين والأطباء المتدربين طرق البحث أكمل طلاب الصيدلة تمرينا منظما تأمليا بعد نشاطين منفصلين للتعليم البيني مع طلاب التمريض وطلاب الطب، وكلا النشاطين حول رعاية مرضى السكري. لقد أجرينا تحليلا استقرائيا للمحتوى الخواطر التأملات لتحديد الموضوعات الرئيسية وفقا لمجالات الإطار النظري لفرضية الاتصال السلطة التنظيمية والأهداف المشتركة والتعاون بين المجموعات، وحالة المجموعة المتساوية، والحالة بين المجموعات شنل طلاب الصيدلة أيضا عن كيفية تأثير أنشطة التعليم البيني على تصورهم لممارسة الصيدلة مستقبلا. النتائج شعر طلاب الصيدلة أن مجموعاتهم قد تعاونت لحل أهداف رعاية المرضى المشتركة في كل أنشطة التعليم البيني دون تمييز ملحوظ بين طلاب التمريض أو الطب. ومع ذلك، عن طريق التفاوض الصريح أو الضمني حول الأدوار المتداخلة، اتخذ الكثيرون في النهاية مواقف تفضيلية بالنسبة لطلاب الطب بشكل عام، تم تغيير مواقف طلاب الصيدلة ووجهات نظرهم تجاه قدرات وأدوار طلاب التمريض والطب في رعاية المرضى بشكل إيجابي من خلال أنشطة التعليم البيني على وجه الخصوص، اكتشف طلاب الصيدلة المعرفة الدوائية والقدرات التشخيصية للممرضات، وكذلك الإلمام بالأدبيات الأولية وأنظمة وصف الأدوية من قبل الأطباء. الاستنتاجات تم تغيير وجهات النظر النمطية لطلاب الصيدلة تجاه طلاب التمريض والطب بشكل إيجابي عندما تم تحسين ظروف نشاط التعليم البيني للتواصل بين المجموعات على نطاق أوسع، يعد البحث المستمر ضروريا لفهم الآثار طويلة المدى للتعرض المبكر لمجموعات الأقران من المهنيين الصحيين على الصور النمطية التي قد تظهر في الرعاية القائمة على الفريق في المستقبل

Re-Emerging Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in War-Affected Peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean Region\u2014An Update

For the past few decades, the Eastern Mediterranean Region has been one area of the world profoundly shaped by war and political instability. On-going conflict and destruction have left the region struggling with innumerable health concerns that have claimed the lives of many. Wars, and the chaos they leave behind, often provide the optimal conditions for the growth and re-emergence of communicable diseases. In this article, we highlight a few of the major re-emerging vaccine preventable diseases in four countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region that are currently affected by war leading to a migration crisis: Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. We will also describe the impact these infections have had on patients, societies, and national health care services. This article also describes the efforts, both local and international, which have been made to address these crises, as well as future endeavors that can be done to contain and control further devastation left by these diseases

Crystal structure and chemistry of barium-graphite intercalation compounds

Graphite can accommodate various chemical species between graphene layers to form graphite intercalation compounds (GIC) [1]. Alkali metals can easily lead to bulk stage-1 intercalation compounds by vapor transport but for more electronegative elements, such as alkaline-earth metals or lanthanides, only a superficial intercalation is obtained and other synthesis methods have to be envisaged. Molten alloys, formed between an alkali metal and the targeted metal, have demonstrated their efficiency to prepare bulk and homogeneous GIC from these latter elements, for example the superconducting CaC6 phase [2], but some elements remain difficult to intercalate by this method. More recently, our team developed a method based on the work of Hagiwara et al., consisting in using a LiCl-KCl eutectic molten medium [3], which for example allowed to prepare for the first time a bulk SrC6 compound [4]. This work is focused on the intercalation of barium into graphite from the LiCl-KCl molten salts method. A bulk stage-1 BaC6 compound has been prepared and X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed its crystal structure [5]. Moreover, by varying the experimental conditions, two completely novel phases, denoted α and β, have been isolated. From ion beam analyses, Li0,2K0,6Ba0,35C6 and Li0,2K0,75Ba0,6C6 chemical formulae have been determined for α and β phases, respectively, showing that lithium and potassium are intercalated together with barium. X- ray diffraction led to the determination of the stacking sequence of each compound, and their planar unit cells. Lastly, a reaction mechanism is proposed, which explains the formation of the different phases observed in this study

Regional scale rain-forest height mapping using regression-kriging of spaceborne and airborne lidar data : application on French Guiana

LiDAR data has been successfully used to estimate forest parameters such as canopy heights and biomass. Major limitation of LiDAR systems (airborne and spaceborne) arises from their limited spatial coverage. In this study, we present a technique for canopy height mapping using airborne and spaceborne LiDAR data (from the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS)). First, canopy heights extracted from both airborne and spaceborne LiDAR were extrapolated from available environmental data. The estimated canopy height maps using Random Forest (RF) regression from airborne or GLAS calibration datasets showed similar precisions (~6 m). To improve the precision of canopy height estimates, regression-kriging was used. Results indicated an improvement in terms of root mean square error (RMSE, from 6.5 to 4.2 m) using the GLAS dataset, and from 5.8 to 1.8 m using the airborne LiDAR dataset. Finally, in order to investigate the impact of the spatial sampling of future LiDAR missions on canopy height estimates precision, six subsets were derived from the initial airborne LiDAR dataset. Results indicated that using the regression-kriging approach a precision of 1.8 m on the canopy height map was achievable with a flight line spacing of 5 km. This precision decreased to 4.8 m for flight line spacing of 50 km

Evaluation of medication adherence among Lebanese diabetic patients

Background: Diabetes type 2 is considered one of the main public health concerns. Lack of adherence to treatment leads to poor therapeutic outcome, poor glycemic control, and high risk for developing diabetes complications. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate adherence to oral antidiabetic medication in Diabetes type 2 Lebanese patients, and to evaluate factors leading to low adherence. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in outpatients endocrinology clinics of two hospitals and four private clinics located in Beirut-Lebanon. Data was collected using a well-structured questionnaire by trained pharmacists. Adherence level was measured by the Lebanese Medication Adherence Scale (LMAS-14). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using SPSS version 20. Results: Overall, 245 patients were included in the study with the majority being females (54.3%) and obese (47.8%). Only 29% of the participants had controlled glycemia (HbA1c <7%) with 31.8% of subjects had high adherence to their medication compared to 68.2% with low adherence. Increased working hours/day was associated with a decrease in adherence to oral antidiabetic medication (OR=0.31; 95% CI 0.11:0.88; p=0.029). Other factors significantly associated with decreased adherence to treatment were forgetfulness, high drug costs, complex treatment regimens, experiencing side effects, and perception of treatment inefficacy. Postponing physician office visits also decreased the probability of being adherent to oral antidiabetic medication (OR=0.36; 95% CI 0.15:0.86; p=0.022). Skipping or doubling the dose in case of hypo/hyperglycemia and the sensation of treatment burden also decreased medication adherence (OR=0.09; 95% CI 0.02:0.34; p=0.001, and OR=0.04; 95% CI 0.01:0.13; p<0.001 respectively). Conclusions: Adherence to oral antidiabetic medication is low for Lebanese patients, which leads to a poor glycemic control and increases the diabetes complications. Intervention programs including patient education strategies are essential to improve medication adherence

Methylation and Expression Analyses of the 7q Autism Susceptibility Locus Genes MEST, COPG2, and TSGA14 in Human and Anthropoid Primate Cortices

The autism susceptibility locus on human chromosome 7q32 contains the maternally imprinted MEST and the non-imprinted COPG2 and TSGA14 genes. Autism is a disorder of the ‘social brain’ that has been proposed to be due to an overbalance of paternally expressed genes. To study regulation of the 7q32 locus during anthropoid primate evolution, we analyzed the methylation and expression patterns of MEST, COPG2, and TSGA14 in human, chimpanzee, Old World monkey (baboon and rhesus macaque), and New World monkey (marmoset) cortices. In all human and anthropoid primate cortices, the MEST promoter was hemimethylated, as expected for a differentially methylated imprinting control region, whereas the COPG2 and TSGA14 promoters were completely demethylated, typical for transcriptionally active non-imprinted genes. The MEST gene also showed comparable mRNA expression levels in all analyzed species. In contrast, COPG2 expression was downregulated in the human cortex compared to chimpanzee, Old and New World monkeys. TSGA14 either showed no differential regulation in the human brain compared to chimpanzee and marmoset or a slight upregulation compared to baboon. The human-specific downregulation supports a role for COPG2 in the development of a ‘social brain’. Promoter methylation patterns appear to be more stable during evolution than gene expression patterns, suggesting that other mechanisms may be more important for inter-primate differences in gene expression