Objective To evaluate pharmacy students' perceptions of the Oops, Ouch, Whoa dialogue guide, an inclusive teaching practice, implemented in a first-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) seminar course to foster inclusive communication. Methods Seventeen first-year PharmD students participated in reflective writing exercises describing their experiences using the dialogue guide. Responses were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) methodology to identify emerging themes. A team of researchers, including pharmacy education instructors and a CQR expert serving as the auditor, systematically coded and categorized the data to develop themes. Results Seventeen students completed the reflection. Seven primary themes emerged from the CQR analysis: Self-reflection and Growth, Safe and Inclusive Environment, Normalizing Making Mistakes, Enhancing Connections, Conflict Resolution, Promoting Understanding and Respect, and Effective Communication. Conclusion This pilot study found that the Oops, Ouch, Whoa dialogue guide served as an effective educational tool, facilitating inclusive communication and enhancing professional skills, which are crucial for pharmacy practice in diverse healthcare environments. This approach aligns with contemporary pharmacy education standards, emphasizing communication, cultural humility, and professional identity formation. This study supports the integration of this framework in educational curricula to enrich student learning experiences and prepare them for more inclusive conversations and the diverse and competing needs in healthcare environments.

Simulated patients (SP) enhance the development of clinical competence and communication skills in student pharmacists. SP encounters foster empathy, person-centered care, and align with curricular and accreditation standards to ensure learners are practice-ready. However, the effectiveness of these programs relies on sustained institutional investment in recruitment, training, diverse representation, and robust infrastructure. Challenges include resource limitations, high faculty workload, and supporting a diverse SP pool. Ongoing support is essential to maintain fidelity, innovate, and respond to evolving pharmacy practices. Investing in SP programs ensures pharmacy graduates are equipped with the clinical and interpersonal skills necessary to provide high-quality, person-centered care in real-world settings, addressing both professional demands and the complex needs of patients.

Introduction For future success in the modern health care environment, health professions students require effective interprofessional education experiences to develop their perceptions of other professionals on the health care team. The Interprofessional Standardized Patient Experience (ISPE) is an interprofessional education activity for prelicensure health professional students in nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, medicine, social work, and occupational therapy. Methods The ISPE involved collaboration among students to conduct a subjective interview. Students from six health care professions individually interviewed a simulated patient while being observed by students from other professions. A structured faculty-guided debriefing session followed the comprehensive interview process. Students completed a voluntary pre- and post-ISPE survey with interprofessional questions and feedback on the activity. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze individual responses. Differences in student opinions by student profession and by the number of professions present were examined using chi-square tests. Results Over 4 consecutive academic years, 1,265 students completed the ISPE, and 1,028 completed the pre- and post-ISPE surveys. Analysis of the survey responses indicated that the ISPE enhanced student awareness of the functions of an interprofessional team and increased student knowledge of the roles of different health care professions. Students rated the ISPE as a valuable experience. Differences were noted in some of the measures by profession and group size. Discussion A single ISPE had a significant impact on prelicensure students’ perceptions. The ISPE is a novel and effective approach to interprofessional education that students appreciate.

Interprofessional education (IPE) is noticeably lacking between pharmacy and veterinary medicine students despite the two health professions overlapping in practice. To address this, an asynchronous IPE activity was developed together with practicing pharmacists and veterinarians. Students worked in groups across two campuses to discuss clinical cases, specifically requiring input from both professions. Students reported they learned more about the two professions’ interconnection, felt prepared to interact with the other professionals in the future, and found value in learning from each other. Overall, the results of this study outline a successful pilot IPE activity between veterinary medicine and pharmacy students.

In today's healthcare, effective collaboration between healthcare professionals is imperative for the delivery of high-quality patient care. Interprofessional education (IPE) is a key component of interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) and plays an essential role in preparing healthcare professionals to work together as a team.1 Dental hygienists (DHs) routinely collect medication histories from patients, collaborating with dentists to manage medication-related side effects during patient care. Alternatively, pharmacists serve as a source of medication information for dental providers. However, opportunities for students in these professions to learn about, from, and with each other are limited, facing barriers such as overcrowded curricula, different program schedules, and lack of faculty resources.2-4 To promote better health outcomes for patients, it is crucial to intentionally design IPE opportunities to overcome these barriers and allow students to enhance their IPCP abilities. A new IPE activity was developed, focused on overcoming the aforementioned barriers. The University of Minnesota brought together pharmacy and DH students to form interprofessional groups of around six students. Each group consisted of 1–2 DH students and 4–5 pharmacy students, each assigned different roles (Table 1). To balance the difference in cohort size and bolster the oral health perspective, a pharmacy student was assigned a role as an oral health advocate. The activity was embedded in existing profession-specific courses. Individually, students completed pre-work, researched the other profession's curriculum and scope of practice, and read through three instructor-developed cases related to oral health and pharmacy (Table 2). Similar to other group assignments, student groups were tasked with independently scheduling a video conference meeting to discuss the cases, answer questions, and explore the impact of medications on oral health and the importance of collaboration in patient care. As a group, students reflected on the experience and submitted a group summary. After completing the case discussions and group reflections, students self-assessed their interprofessional collaboration skills before and after the activity by completing the revised Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS-R).5 The IPE activity took about 90–120 min to complete. How many years does a dental hygienist go to school? When graduating from pharmacy school, what level of degree is obtained? What is the scope of practice for a dental hygienist? List potential career options. What is dental therapy? Can dental hygienists prescribe medication? Can they dispense? How many semesters of pharmacology are included in the dental hygiene curriculum? How many years does a pharmacist go to school? When graduating from pharmacy school, what level of degree is obtained? What does a pharmacist do in practice? List potential career options. Is post-doctoral training available and/or required? If so, what does it look like? Can pharmacists prescribe medication? How many semesters of pharmacology and/or medicinal chemistry are included pharmacy curriculum? In the fall of 2020, all (186) students from the second-year-pharmacy (158) and fourth-year DH cohorts (28) completed the required IPE activity, with 172 students completing all aspects of the survey (144 pharmacy and 28 DH students). Every item of the ICCAS-R was statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) for both professions, indicating an increase in students' perceived interprofessional collaboration skills (Table 3), highlighting the activity's success. The activity design was successful as it helped overcome several barriers to IPE implementation. It was conducted synchronously using video conferencing, which brought together students from two campuses and accommodated mismatched curriculum schedules. Assigned roles, especially an oral health advocate, created a better balance for DH representation due to uneven program sizes, ensuring the conversation was not dominated by one perspective. Following initial development, the activity required low faculty resources and was easy to implement in the next academic year. Familiarity with video conference software varied among students, highlighting the importance of clear instructions for asynchronous, student-led sessions outside class time. Overall, this was an effective way to introduce IPE in a structure where it was not previously possible and is designed for replication and further IPE expansion among other professions. The authors have nothing to report. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Jared C. Van Hooser, PharmD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. He is also the Director of the Pharmaceutical Care Learning Center Director on the Duluth campus Morgan K. Hoeft, PharmD, is a Lecturer in the Department of Pharmaceutical Care and Health Systems. She is also the Director of the Pharmaceutical Care Learning Center on the Twin Cities campus. Cynthia L. Stull, DHSc, MDH, RDH, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Primary Care at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. She is also the Director of the Division of Dental Hygiene.

IntroductionCompetent navigation of an electronic health record (EHR) has become a critical skill for health professionals, and pharmacists need to be adept in EHR utilization given the extent of EHR involvement in routine medication management. Limited data exists related to current approaches to teaching EHR skills in pre-Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (pre-APPE) pharmacy curricula.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to describe activities, utilization, and barriers to implementation of teaching EHRs (tEHRs) into pharmacy curricula in skills-based courses.MethodsFaculty members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance Skills-Based Education and Assessment Collaborative (BTAA-SBEAC) were surveyed. The questionnaire included open-ended questions related to tEHR type, curriculum placement, and current use of tEHRs, as well as barriers to incorporation of tEHRs in the curriculum. Inductive content analysis was used to evaluate qualitative responses.ResultsA representative from all 10 colleges within the BTAA responded. Most programs focused on EHR teaching in the second and third years of the curriculum. All respondents reported having access to a tEHR for internal case building. The tEHR was used by all institutions to allow students to practice in gathering patient information as the first step in the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process. Other activities commonly performed using the tEHR included patient care documentation, medication order verification, prescription processing, and medication reconciliation. Faculty time and cost were barriers identified for successful tEHR implementation.ConclusionMultiple skills are taught through the utilization of a tEHR among the colleges within the BTAA. These activities vary between institutions, and barriers exist that limit expansion and consistent integration across a skills-based curriculum. Recognition of EHR utilization as an essential pharmacy skill can allow for development of formalized learning outcomes, leading to better support and integration throughout skills-based courses.

To develop and assess a SOAP note documentation workshop for second-year pharmacy students.

To evaluate students' perceptions of two no-fail attempts (three attempts total) on practical skills assessments and the use of professionalism policy violations in a pharmacy skills lab sequence.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed how education is delivered. Many academic programs quickly transformed their curriculum to online distance learning. This rapid transition may have compromised the rigor and fidelity of these activities. The Interprofessional Standardized Patient Experience (ISPE) is an interprofessional education activity (IPE) involving a team of students from six different healthcare professions that switched to an online delivery format. This manuscript compares pharmacy students' perceived change in interprofessional skills between the two formats. Following the ISPE, second-year pharmacy students completed the revised Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS-R). The ICCAS-R assesses the change in interprofessional collaboration-related competencies in healthcare students before and after IPE training using a retrospective pre-post approach. For each ICCAS-R item and each delivery format (44 in-person and 51 online), paired Student's t-test on pre- and post-ISPE scores, and Cohen's d were calculated. Every item of the ICCAS-R was significant (p < 0.001), regardless of delivery format. Nearly all ICCAS-R items had a large effect size, and the remaining items had a medium effect size. The amount of change pre- and post-ISPE for each ICCAS-R item was calculated. Student's t-test was used to compare the magnitude of change in interprofessional skills between the two delivery formats. Only one difference was noted between the two delivery formats-ICCAS-R item 16, which measured actively listening to interprofessional team members (p = 0.0321). When switching to an online format, the high-fidelity dimension of the ISPE was retained. The ISPE is an effective IPE activity at increasing pharmacy students' self-perceived interprofessional collaboration skills regardless of delivery format. Even though students reported the ISPE increased their ability to actively listen to the perspectives of interprofessional team members in both formats, the magnitude of the benefit was more profound in the in-person group.

INTRODUCTION:Several factors may affect student wellbeing, including tolerance for ambiguity, burnout, empathy, quality of life, and stress. A better understanding of how pharmacy students score on these scales relative to other health professional students could help educators and schools address and improve student wellbeing. The study objective was to determine a baseline measure of pharmacy student tolerance for ambiguity, burnout, empathy, quality of life, and stress.METHODS:A voluntary survey including several assessment scales (Tolerance for Ambiguity, Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Interpersonal Reactivity Index [empathy], Quality of Life Scale, and Perceived Stress Scale) was sent by email to all pharmacy students within a standalone college of pharmacy.RESULTS:Two hundred thirty-one pharmacy students completed all aspects of the survey. Comparing each scale with sex, female students trended higher in Interpersonal Reactivity Index and scored significantly higher on the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (disengagement), while male students scored significantly higher for Quality of Life. Fourth-year students scored significantly higher on the Tolerance for Ambiguity scale as compared to first- and second-year students and on the Quality of Life scale as compared with third-year students. Third-year students experienced the greatest levels of burnout. Differences were also noted based on students' anticipated area of practice (empathy) and desire to work with an underserved population (empathy and stress).CONCLUSIONS:Pharmacy students' responses to the included scales varied greatly when considering various demographic parameters. The significant differences identified are illuminating and represent potential areas for curricular improvement, student support, and further study within pharmacy school curricula.

In Spring 2020 many academic institutions transitioned to remote learning in response to the developing COVID-19 pandemic. These changes affected skills-based training, as schools of pharmacy were forced to transition traditionally in-person assessments to a remote setting. The purpose of this article is to describe the experience of pharmacy skills lab coordinators when transitioning summative skills-based assessments (SSBA).A web-based survey instrument administered through QualtricsXM was sent to all institutions in the Big Ten Academic Alliance-Performance Based Assessment Collaborative. Only one member from each institution completed the survey on behalf of the institution. The survey consisted of four sections: changes made to skills evaluated; changes made to the delivery of those evaluations; challenges to and strategies used by the skills lab program when switching to remote learning; and recommendations for incorporating remote learning within future SSBAs. Survey respondents were invited to participate in an optional unstructured interview regarding survey answers.Nine of ten invited institutions responded to the survey. Of the nine respondents, three participated in the post-survey interview. Overall, 79.5% (93/117) of skills planned to be assessed were assessed with or without modification, with 8.5% (10/117) of skills canceled and 10.3% (12/117) of skills assessments postponed. The most common challenges mentioned were the lack of preparation time, inability to assess certain skills virtually, and student barriers. The most common recommendations made were to prioritize lab components and incorporate flexibility in planning and scheduling.The results indicate that most skills were still assessed during the Spring 2020 semester. Though the transition to remote learning was challenging and unique for each institution, common strategies and recommendations identified here provide opportunities for academics to analyze and prioritize learning objectives and to rethink how to develop and deliver SSBAs as remote assessments.

"Patient-Centeredness" (PC) is a theoretical construct made up of a diverse constellation of distinct concepts, processes, practices, and outcomes that have been developed, arranged, and prioritized heterogeneously by different communities of professional healthcare practice, research, and policy. It is bound together by a common ethos that puts the holistic individual at the functional and symbolic center of their care, a quality deemed essential for chronic disease management and health promotion. Several important contributions to the PC research space have adeptly integrated seminal PC conceptualizations to improve conceptual clarity, measurement, implementation, and evaluation in research and practice. This systematic scoping review builds on that work, but with a purpose to explicitly identify, compare, and contrast the seminal PC conceptualizations arising from the different healthcare professional groups. The rationale for this work is that a deeper examination of the underlying development and corresponding assumptions from each respective conceptualization will lead to a more informed understanding of and meaningful contributions to PC research and practice, especially for healthcare professional groups newer to the topic area like pharmacy. The literature search identified four seminal conceptualizations from the healthcare professions of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Policy. A compositional comparison across the seminal conceptualizations revealed a shared ethos but also six distinguishing features: (1) organizational structure; (2) predominant level of care; (3) methodological approach; (4) care setting origin; (5) outcomes of interest; and (6) language. The findings illuminate PC's stable theoretical foundations and distinctive nuances needed to appropriately understand, apply, and evaluate the construct's operationalization in contemporary healthcare research and practice. These considerations hold important implications for future research into the fundamental aims of healthcare, how it should look when practiced, and what should reasonably be required of it.

When students fail to meet minimum competence standards on summative pharmacy skills-based assessments, remediation can be used to ensure student readiness for progression. Skills-based remediation is challenging as a high volume of resources is required to develop an action plan that addresses the heterogeneity in student needs and to create and execute another assessment equivalent to the initial assessment. Although many Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programs face these same challenges, there is no consensus on how to best address them. Recently, faculty from six PharmD programs convened to share ideas and approaches to overcoming these challenges. This commentary aims to define remediation as it pertains to summative skills-based assessments, share our consensus views regarding remediation best practices, and highlight areas where there is more work to be done. Our intent is to advance the ongoing conversation and empower institutions to develop their own effective and impactful skills-based remediation policies, procedures, and activities.

BACKGROUND:Heart disease and stroke are among the leading causes of death in Native Americans. Knowledge of heart attack and stroke symptomology are essential for prompt identification of symptoms and for appropriate action in seeking care. Knowledge of heart attack and stroke symptoms among US Native American adults was this study's focus.METHODS:Multivariate techniques were used to analyze national surveillance data. Native American adults comprised the study population. Low heart attack and stroke knowledge score was the dependent variable.RESULTS:Logistic regression analysis yielded that Native American adults with low heart attack and stroke composite knowledge scores were more likely to be: older, less educated, poorer, uninsured, a rural resident, male, without a primary health care provider, and lacking a recent medical checkup.CONCLUSIONS:The identified characteristics of Native American adults with heart attack and stroke knowledge deficits or disparities should guide educational initiatives by health care providers focusing on improving such knowledge.