Activity

To describe a pilot study testing a metacognition and contemplative pedagogy intervention designed to improve student abilities to identify errors on orders entered into a computerized provider order entry (CPOE) system. Educational activity and setting Student teams worked up five patient cases and entered new orders into a CPOE system. All orders entered by teams were analyzed for errors and faculty members identified fifteen orders representing the top errors and selected these for the pre-exercise, in-class contemplation activity, and post-exercise. Course instructors instructed students to identify all errors on these orders. Students completed a pre/post-survey rating their ability to enter new orders. Two weeks later, students worked up a new patient case and entered orders into the CPOE. These orders were graded and scores were compared to the 2017 cohort to determine any differences in error rates.

Study participants included 205 students The average score of correctly identified errors increased from 22% on the pre-exercise to 62.8% on the post-exercise. On the survey of their skills, students rated their ability to “accurately enter medication orders into the [electronic health record] EHR” more highly after the intervention. The 2017 cohort made 73 errors on 170 orders compared to 45 errors on 165 orders by the 2018 cohort.

Based on improvements in student ability to identify order entry errors and overall positive student feedback, this strategy may be adopted by other educators looking to improve student identification of errors on orders entered into a CPOE system.

Based on improvements in student ability to identify order entry errors and overall positive student feedback, this strategy may be adopted by other educators looking to improve student identification of errors on orders entered into a CPOE system.

Deep thinking is a desirable trait for higher education especially at a time where knowledge application, rather than knowledge acquisition, is premium. As assessment plays a critical role in shaping learning behaviors, this study attempted to evaluate the benefits of administering a ‘student-designed assessment problems’ (SDAP) assignment as a tool to instill deeper learning among students. The supposition was that when tasked to design assessment problems, students are challenged to higher cognitive levels of thinking on the Bloom’s revised taxonomy scale.

This study was conducted on a group of third year pharmacy students taking an elective module on pharmacokinetics and toxicokinetics. Students were shown an example of a finished product and were given three weeks to complete the take-home assignment. The questions that students designed were characterized according to the revised Bloom’s taxonomy category by two independent reviewers. Feedback on students’ experience was also evaluated.

All 18 students reading the module submitted their SDAP with questions that demonstrated all levels of thinking, with application-based questions being most significant, followed by analytical questions. Feedback from the students was positive, with clear indications of self-directed and peer learning.

This exercise offered a surprising insight into students’ way of thinking, by externalizing their inquiring minds and translating their thoughts into written questions. This positive outcome informed that it has stirred deep thinking and learning among the students who participated. Evidently, SDAP is impactful as an assessment for and of learning.

This exercise offered a surprising insight into students’ way of thinking, by externalizing their inquiring minds and translating their thoughts into written questions. This positive outcome informed that it has stirred deep thinking and learning among the students who participated. Evidently, SDAP is impactful as an assessment for and of learning.

Urine drug tests (UDTs) are commonly used in the healthcare setting to monitor adherence, abuse, and diversion of controlled substances. The goal of our study was to assess the knowledge and perceptions of third-year pharmacy students on UDTs following an educational experience.

Third-year pharmacy students completed pre- and post-questionnaires following a skills laboratory focused on the use of UDTs in clinical settings. The 34-item questionnaires consisted of three domains demographics, knowledge regarding UDTs, and personal perceptions of UDTs. A pre-lab teaching podcast was assigned prior to the laboratory session, and two clinical cases were discussed during the live UDT segment. HG-9-91-01 cell line Descriptive statistics were used to assess demographics, and changes in knowledge and perceptions of UDTs were evaluated using chi-square and Mann-Whitney U, respectively, with an a priori alpha of 0.05.

One hundred twenty students were included in the analysis. Students in the laboratory were predominately female (n=72, 60%), Caucasian (n=84, 70%), and had no prior training with UDTs (n=104, 86.7%). Student knowledge of UDT interpretation significantly increased from 57% to 71% (four and five correct answers out of seven, respectively). Confidence interpreting UDTs and answering questions related to UDTs also increased significantly. Students felt the laboratory experience was valuable, with 84.2% agreeing or strongly agreeing.

Educational programming focused on UDTs improves student confidence interpreting results and knowledge related to the use of UDTs.

Educational programming focused on UDTs improves student confidence interpreting results and knowledge related to the use of UDTs.

Previous research has shown that pharmacists can have an essential role in improving patient care transitions. However, the extent of student pharmacists’ training, readiness, and confidence in ability to provide transitions of care (TOC) remains unclear. Our goal was to examine student pharmacist preparation, readiness, and confidence for engaging in TOC.

Second-year student pharmacists at two schools/colleges of pharmacy in the United States were asked questions about their training, readiness, and confidence for providing TOC services. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data.

In all, 113 (59 Western New England University [WNE] and 54 University of Wyoming [UWYO]) second-year pharmacy students received the survey request and 78 (50 WNE and 28 UWYO) completed the survey, resulting in an overall response rate of 69%. Participants reported that pharmacy coursework provided the highest level of preparedness to offer TOC services (37%), followed by introductory pharmacy practice experiences (31%).