A scoping review of artificial intelligence within pharmacy education.

OBJECTIVES: This scoping review aimed to summarize the available literature on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in pharmacy education and identify gaps where additional research is needed. FINDINGS: Seven studies specifically addressing the use of AI in pharmacy education were identified. Of these 7 studies, 5 focused on AI use in the context of teaching and learning, 1 on the prediction of academic performance for admissions, and the final study focused on using AI text generation to elucidate the benefits and limitations of ChatGPT use in pharmacy education. SUMMARY: There are currently a limited number of available publications that describe AI use in pharmacy education. Several challenges exist regarding the use of AI in pharmacy education, including the need for faculty expertise and time, limited generalizability of tools, limited outcomes data, and several legal and ethical concerns. As AI use increases and implementation becomes more standardized, opportunities will be created for the inclusion of AI in pharmacy education.

Incorporating a peer-teaching, virtual, educational activity to teach newly approved medications in a senior seminar capstone course.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Peer teaching and serious gaming are effective pedagogical approaches to actively engage learners, foster collaboration, and promote student accountability for self-directed learning. Literature describing how students learn about and are assessed on knowledge of newly approved medications is lacking. The objective of this project is to describe the design and implementation of a peer-taught virtual educational gaming activity, assess impact on knowledge of newly approved medications, and describe student perceptions of the activity. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: Pharmacy students in the fourth professional year developed and delivered a topic discussion focusing on newly approved medications to peers utilizing a virtual escape room gaming format. The activity was delivered via Zoom, Version 4.6.9 (Zoom Video Communications, Inc). A pre- and post-activity knowledge-based assessment and perception-based questionnaire were administered to participants. Observations regarding teamwork and communication were collected by facilitators. FINDINGS: Sixteen students participated in this activity. Mean scores on the knowledge quiz were higher post-activity compared to pre-activity (8.1 vs. 6.3). The activity was perceived positively by participants with 100% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that they "enjoyed the escape room theme for the activity and would recommend it to a friend." Zoom was perceived an effective platform to deliver this activity. All facilitators observed students working effectively as a team to complete the activity. SUMMARY: Virtual gaming developed and facilitated by peer teachers may be an effective method for delivering educational content and positively influencing student learning.

AACP faculty affairs standing committee report of strategies for faculty self-advocacy and promotion.

OBJECTIVES: The 2020-2021 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Faculty Affairs Standing Committee (FASC) was charged with identifying how faculty can self-advocate and promote themselves in a social influence context. FINDINGS: The FASC identified social influence and persuasion theories and strategies that can be used by faculty to initiate self-advocacy discussions and collaborations. Social influence and persuasion theories can provide a framework for research and scholarship or for beginning discussions regarding self-advocacy. SUMMARY: This FASC report describes the Committee charge, background information, and an overview of social influence theories and how these theories can be applied in academic pharmacy. The report concludes with a summary of issues for follow-up to the Committee's work.

A Review of Tapinarof: Novel Topical Treatment for Plaque Psoriasis in Adults.

Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated, multisystem, inflammatory dermatological condition that is persistent and relapsing. Topical treatments are first line agents for mild to moderate plaque psoriasis. With proven efficacy and safety, topical corticosteroids are often used, although adverse effects and limitations for use exist. Tapinarof (Vtama®), a novel topical aryl hydrocarbon receptor modulating drug, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of plaque psoriasis in adults in May 2022. A literature search of PubMed, MEDLINE, and ClinicalTrials.gov was conducted using the following keywords: tapinarof, psoriasis, GSK2894512. Articles published before January 2023 were included in this review. This review describes the preclinical and clinical studies demonstrating the efficacy and safety of tapinarof, its place in therapy, and relevance to patient care. Kalabalik-Hoganson J, Nogid A, Frey K. A review of tapinarof: novel topical treatment for plaque psoriasis in adults. J Drugs Dermatol. 2023;22(8):761-765. doi:10.36849/JDD.7481.

A heart failure themed escape room approach to enhance pharmacy student learning.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to design, pilot, and evaluate the efficacy of an educational escape room to enhance second professional year doctor of pharmacy students' knowledge of heart failure medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and therapeutics in an integrated Modular Organ Systems Therapeutics (MOST) course and to assess students' perceptions of the game. METHODS: Heart failure pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacotherapeutics were taught in MOST prior to the escape room activity. Students were randomized into groups of approximately eight. At the completion of the activity, students were asked to fill out a perceptions survey. A follow up survey of their perceptions was again administered four weeks after the activity. RESULTS: One-hundred-ninety-three students participated in the escape room activity. Overall, performance indicated that the escape room satisfactorily reinforced students' learning of the course material. Students expressed satisfaction toward the escape room activity on both surveys, with response rates of 92.22% and 56.99% for the initial and follow up surveys, respectively. Findings revealed no statistically significant differences between the first and the second group of responses, confirming that positive attitudes toward the activity did not alter over time. Students' satisfaction levels were inversely related to their grade point average (r = -0.20, p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Positive student perceptions reported immediately after the completion of the escape room activity and measured in the follow-up survey demonstrated that the escape room is a satisfying learning activity that can engage all students.

Fospropofol disodium (lusedra) injection for anesthesia-care sedation: a clinical review.

Fospropofol disodium (Lusedra) for anesthesia sedation.

Journal clubs during advanced pharmacy practice experiences to teach literature-evaluation skills.

OBJECTIVE: To determine pharmacy students' attitudes and academic performance related to journal club during 2 advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). DESIGN: Fourth-year pharmacy students were required to complete 3 journal club assignments during drug information and internal medicine APPEs. ASSESSMENT: A majority (91.3%) of the 105 students who responded to a 21-item survey instrument indicated that journal club assignments during the drug-information APPE were valuable to their understanding of research design and statistics. Students who completed the drug-information APPE before the internal medicine APPE scored higher on their understanding of the strengths and weaknesses and the clinical relevance of studies and had a higher learning slope (p = 0.01) than did students who completed the internal medicine APPE first. CONCLUSION: Incorporating journal clubs into APPEs is an effective means of teaching literature-evaluation skills to pharmacy students.

Rotigotine transdermal system for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Levodopa has been the cornerstone of the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) for >30 years, but long-term levodopa therapy is associated with development of such motor complications as motor fluctuations, dyskinesias, and drug-induced involuntary movements. Rotigotine is a dopamine agonist with high affinity for the D(2) receptor. Rotigotine transdermal system, the first such system approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the management of PD, has been formulated to deliver a consistent concentration of drug to the bloodstream with the goal of minimizing the complications associated with pulsatile dosing. OBJECTIVE: This article reviews the clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, tolerability, and efficacy of rotigotine transdermal system in the treatment of PD. METHODS: MEDLINE (1966-April 2008) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1971-April 2008) were searched using the term rotigotine. All prospective, randomized clinical efficacy trials in humans were included. The reference lists of the identified articles were reviewed for additional publications. RESULTS: In clinical trials, rotigotine transdermal system at doses ranging from 4.5 to 67 mg/d was associated with significant clinical benefit in patients with early and advanced PD. In 4 randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled trials of 6 months' duration, patients receiving rotigotine transdermal system had significant improvements on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part II (activities of daily living) that ranged from -0.3 to -4.2, compared with +0.92 to -2 for placebo (P < 0.001, rotigotine transdermal system vs placebo). In one trial that included pramipexole as an active comparator, the change in UPDRS II at 6 months was -4.2 in the rotigotine transdermal system group and -4.6 in the pramipexole group (P = NS, rotigotine transdermal system vs pramipexole). Changes on the UPDRS III (motor examination) at 6 months ranged from -3.58 to -8.7 with rotigotine transdermal system, compared with +0.38 to -4.3 in the placebo group and -10.3 in the pramipexole group (P < 0.001 vs placebo; P = NS vs pramipexole). The change in "off" time at 6 months ranged from -2.1 to -2.7 hours with rotigotine transdermal system, compared with -0.9 hour with placebo and -2.8 hours with pramipexole (P < 0.001 vs placebo; P = NS vs pramipexole). The proportion of patients achieving a >30% reduction in "off" time ranged from 55.1% to 59.7% of patients receiving rotigotine transdermal system, compared with 34.5% to 35.0% of patients receiving placebo and 67.0% of patients receiving pramipexole (P<0.001 vs placebo; P = NS vs pramipexole). The most commonly reported adverse event was application-site reaction, occurring in 9% to 46% of patients receiving rotigotine transdermal system, compared with 5% to 13% of patients receiving placebo. Other adverse events occurring in >20% of patients receiving rotigotine transdermal system were somnolence(8%\2-33%)and nausea(12%-49%). Less than 5% of patients assigned to rotigotine transdermal system discontinued study medication because of an adverse drug event. CONCLUSIONS: The available evidence suggests that rotigotine transdermal system was effective compared with placebo in decreasing morbidity in patients with early and advanced PD. The most commonly reported adverse events associated with rotigotine transdermal system were application-site reaction, nausea, and somnolence. Additional clinical trials are needed to determine the long-term tolerability profile of rotigotine transdermal system and its clinical efficacy and tolerability compared with oral dopamine agonists.

Sitagliptin: a novel agent for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PURPOSE: The pharmacologic, pharmacokinetic, safety, clinical efficacy, and role of sitagliptin in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus are reviewed. SUMMARY: Sitagliptin is a dipeptidyl-peptidase IV (DPP4) inhibitor that increases insulin release and decreases glucagon levels by preventing the activation of incretin hormones--glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide. The clinical trials reviewed provide evidence that sitagliptin, either alone or in combination with metformin or thiazolidinediones, is effective in reducing glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)), fasting plasma glucose, and two-hour postprandial glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. Specifically, sitagliptin has a role in patients who have been compliant with their oral hypoglycemic agents but unable to attain target HbA(1c) values with monotherapy and lifestyle modifications. Sitagliptin is generally well tolerated, with the frequency of adverse events being similar to placebo and a low frequency of hypoglycemia. Sitagliptin does not appear to alter the pharmacokinetics of metformin, rosiglitazone, glyburide, simvastatin, warfarin, or oral contraceptives. The addition of sitagliptin to a patient's oral antidiabetic regimen would necessitate close monitoring for adverse events and possible drug interactions. The sitagliptin dosage recommended by the manufacturer is 100 mg once daily as monotherapy or in combination with metformin or a thiazolidinedione. No formal pharmacoeconomic evaluations of sitagliptin therapy have been conducted. CONCLUSION: Sitagliptin, a DPP4 inhibitor, offers a novel treatment option for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Acute interstitial nephritis associated with coadministration of vancomycin and ceftriaxone: case series and review of the literature.

We report what we believe to be the first two cases of acute interstitial nephritis associated with vancomycin and ceftriaxone therapy in adults. A 40-year-old man with a medical history of traumatic brain injury and tonic-clonic seizure disorder was admitted to the hospital with a seizure episode and temperature of 103 degrees F. He was administered ceftriaxone, vancomycin, and acyclovir for suspected bacterial and/or viral meningitis. On day 4, the patient was noted to have diffuse erythematous plaques on the neck, chest, arms, abdomen, and back, as well as an elevated serum creatinine level of 3.1 mg/dl (baseline 0.9 mg/dl) and an elevated eosinophil count (6%). Dermatology and renal consultations were obtained, and a diagnosis of suspected acute interstitial nephritis was made. After a 3-day course of antibiotic treatment (day 4 of hospitalization), all antibiotics were discontinued and topical triamcinolone 0.1% ointment and hydrocortisone 2.5% cream were begun for the rash. The patient was discharged 5 days later with improvement in the rash, serum creatinine level (1.0 mg/dl), and eosinophil count (0.9%). A 59-year-old woman with a medical history of diabetes mellitus was admitted to the hospital with a serum creatinine level of 3.7 mg/dl, eosinophil count of 8.4%, and fractional excretion of sodium of 2.94%. The patient had been receiving treatment with vancomycin and ceftriaxone for osteomyelitis for 28 days before this hospital admission. Her baseline serum creatinine level (before antibiotic therapy) was 1.0 mg/dl. Renal consultation was obtained, and a diagnosis of probable acute interstitial nephritis was made. Ceftriaxone and vancomycin were discontinued, and her serum creatinine level gradually decreased to 3.3 mg/dl and then further to 1.5 mg/dl over the next 3 months. Use of the Naranjo adverse drug reaction probability scale revealed that the adverse reaction was possible in the first case and probable in the second case. Health care professionals need to be cognizant that drug-induced acute interstitial nephritis can be associated with concomitant administration of ceftriaxone and vancomycin therapy. Early detection of this rare adverse reaction is paramount in order to prevent acute renal insufficiency.

Adjunctive therapy with pramlintide in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus is associated with both microvascular and macrovascular complications. Despite an array of treatment options available, achievement of euglycemia in most patients with diabetes is still lacking. Pramlintide acetate, a synthetic analog of the human hormone amylin and belonging to a new class of agents, was approved in March 2005 as adjunctive treatment in patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus. To evaluate the data available on the efficacy and safety of pramlintide, we conducted a search of MEDLINE (January 1966-May 2006) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (January 1970-May 2006). Bibliographies of clinical trials were reviewed for additional references. The literature reviewed demonstrated that pramlintide is effective in reducing levels of glycosylated hemoglobin and potentially preventing weight gain. The most commonly reported adverse effects associated with pramlintide were nausea, anorexia, and hypoglycemia. These adverse effects occurred more often during the initiation of therapy and were usually mild to moderate in nature. Whether this therapy is a cost-effective option for patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus is yet to be determined.

Role of abatacept in the management of rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with significant morbidity and economic burden. Traditional pharmacotherapy (eg, NSAIDs, corticosteroids, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs [DMARDs]) can be inadequate in controlling symptoms and disease progression. Abatacept is the first selective co-stimulation modulator approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the management of RA. It is a fusion protein developed to modulate the T-cell co-stimulatory signal that is mediated through the CD28-CD80/86 pathway. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this manuscript was to review the clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, tolerability, and clinical efficacy of abatacept. METHODS: MEDLINE and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts were searched through June and May, respectively, of 2006 using the term abatacept or CTLA4-Ig. All prospective, randomized, Phase II and III trials, and their extension phases, were included. RESULTS: Phase II and III clinical trials found that abatacept, at a dose of 10 mg/kg administered as a short i.v. infusion in combination with DMARDs, was associated with significant clinical benefit in patients with active RA. After 6 months of treatment, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for 20% clinical improvement (ACR20 response) was attained in 41.9% to 67.9% of patients who received abatacept compared with 19.5% to 39.7% of patients who received placebo (P < 0.001). The percentages of patients achieving the ACR criteria for 50% and 70% clinical improvement (ACR50 and ACR70) were 20.3% to 39.9% and 10.2% to 19.8%, respectively, in the groups that received abatacept compared with 3.8% to 16.8% and 1.5% to 6.5%, respectively, in the patients who received placebo (P = 0.03 and P < 0.001). Additionally, abatacept was found to improve disease activity, physical function, pain, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The most commonly reported adverse effects associated with abatacept treatment were headache (18.2%), upper respiratory tract infection (12.7%), nasopharyngitis (11.5%), and nausea (11.5%). The incidences of infections and serious infections were higher in the group that received abatacept compared with patients who received placebo (53.8% vs 48.3% and 3.0% vs 1.9%, respectively; P not reported). No significant between-group differences in mortality were found. CONCLUSIONS: Available evidence suggests that abatacept was effective in controlling symptoms and improving HRQOL in patients with active RA and an inadequate response to DMARD therapy. The most commonly reported adverse effects associated with abatacept treatment were headache, upper respiratory infection, nausea, and nasopharyngitis. Additional trials are needed to determine the long-term safety profile of this agent and whether the clinical benefits of abatacept found in the current clinical trials will be sustained over time.