A Novel Calling Intervention for Career Development and Well-Being

Callings describe work that serves a cause greater than oneself and provides meaning and purpose in life. Living a calling at work has been linked with a number of positive outcomes including well-being, intrinsic motivation, and life satisfaction. In this capstone, I describe a career and professional development class at a major university designed to help professional, graduate and postdoctoral students, predominantly in biomedical disciplines, find more meaning and purpose through callings. The class incorporates classic career counseling concepts with a calling framework that includes self-awareness, authentic purpose, and strengths. This capstone provides an overview of the course and a qualitative summary of student feedback

Influence of Altered Serum Cholesterol Levels and Fasting on Cutaneous Cholesterol Synthesis

Barrier perturbation stimulates epidermal cholesterol synthesis, which plays an important role in restoring barrier function. In the present study, we examined whether changes in serum cholesterol levels or nutrition regulate epidermal cholesterol synthesis in hairless mice. Serum cholesterol levels were lowered by 50% after injection with 4- aminopyrazolo (3,4-d) pyrimidine and were increased by 51% by feeding an atherogenic diet. In contrast to most other tissues, cholesterol synthesis in the epidermis and dermis was not inhibited by elevations or stimulated by decreases in serum cholesterol levels. Additionally, feeding a high-cholesterol diet did not decrease epidermal or dermal cholesterol synthesis. However, fasting significantly decreased both epidermal (38%) and dermal (34%) cholesterologenesis. Furthermore, barrier recovery after acetone disruption of the barrier was impaired in fasted animals. However, treatment with topical lipids did not restore barrier repair rate to normal, indicating that factors in addition to lipids are necessary to overcome the effects of fasting. These results demonstrate that cholesterol synthesis in the epidermis and dermis is regulated independently of changes in serum cholesterol levels

VCU Center for Research Excellence

This project proposed creation of a Center for Research Excellence that would focus on fostering excellence in research and scholarly activity for all faculty and aspiring faculty at VCU. Research excellence is important to maintaining VCU’s Carnegie Research Extensive rating and as described in VCU 2020 goal to “assuring continued international recognition in research, scholarship, and creative expression”

Report of the 2011-2012 AACP Special Advisory Committee on Research and Graduate Education

According to the Bylaws of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the Research and Graduate Affairs Committee (RGAC) shall provide assistance to the Association in developing its research, graduate education, and scholarship agenda. This assistance may include facilitating colleges and schools in formulating and advancing legislative and regulatory initiatives, and nurturing collaborative activities with organizations sharing an interest in issues related to the pharmaceutical sciences

Pharmacokinetic simulations using cellular automata in a pharmacokinetics course

Cellular automata are systems composed of two-dimensional cell arrays which change according to specific, pre-determined rules. For this reason, cellular automata were used to illustrate and simulate kinetic processes in a introductory pharmacokinetics course in a four-year PharmD curriculum. Simulations were included in the lectures whenever a new pharmacokinetic model or concept was introduced. Types of simulations performed included zero- and first- order input, distribution, and elimination from one- or two-compartment body models. Following course completion, seventy two percent of respondants strongly agreed or agreed with the statement: “The kinetic simulations helped me to better understand pharmacokinetic mathematical principles. ” Incorporation of simulations may also have increased the frequency of correct responses to questions testing pharmacokinetic concepts on mid-semester and final exams. Therefore, cellular automata may provide a useful teaching tool for kinetic simulations in pharmacokinetic courses

Biofarmasetika dan farmakokinetika terapan

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Factors influencing faculty perceptions of teaching workload

Background: Teaching workloads are often not clearly defined at academic institutions. Within health professional programs, the existence of both didactic and experiential teaching assignments make equitable distribution of teaching workloads more complex. Several reports in the literature have described the development of workload allocation formulas that have been predicted to improve faculty perceptions of fairness. Additional factors such as faculty shortage and lack of teaching support can influence faculty perceptions of workload. Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the presence of workload measurement and allocation formulas and faculty satisfaction with workload. A secondary objective was to investigate the influence of several factors such as teaching support on workload dissatisfaction. Methods: Upper level administrators at six schools of pharmacy were interviewed in order to identify variables associated with workload assignments. This information was incorporated into a survey instrument to access faculty perceptions of teaching workload, and a link to the survey was sent via email to 690 faculty members at 12 pharmacy schools, with a request for their participation. Results: The survey response rate was 43%. Conclusions: The presence of workload measurement and workload allocation formulas were indicated by 37% and 14% of the respondents, respectively. The ability to participate in teaching schedule development appeared to improve workload satisfaction, whereas the presence of a workload allocation formula appeared to improve workload satisfaction and perceptions of fairness. A shortage of teaching support was the major factor associated with teaching workload dissatisfaction. © 2013 Elsevier Inc

Report of the 2011-2012 AACP Special Advisory Committee on Research and Graduate Education

According to the Bylaws of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the Research and Graduate Affairs Committee (RGAC) shall provide assistance to the Association in developing its research, graduate education, and scholarship agenda. This assistance may include facilitating colleges and schools in formulating and advancing legislative and regulatory initiatives, and nurturing collaborative activities with organizations sharing an interest in issues related to the pharmaceutical sciences