An Integrative Review of Micro-Credentials and Digital Badges for Pharmacy Educators.

Micro-credentials (MCs) and digital badges (DBs) have gained popularity in recent years as a means to supplement traditional degrees and certifications. MCs and DBs can play a significant role in supporting student-centered learning by offering personalized and flexible learning pathways, emphasizing real-world relevance and practical skills, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth. However, barriers currently exist within health professions education, including pharmacy education, that could limit the full adoption and implementation of MCs and DBs. Research on the use of MCs and DBs in Doctor of Pharmacy degree programs is sparse. In this integrative review, literature on the use of MCs and DBs in health professions education is reviewed, and perspectives on the benefits, issues, and potential future uses within Doctor of Pharmacy degree programs are presented.

Incorporating Interprofessional Education into a Required Introductory Pharmacy and Nursing Didactic Course.

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to describe the pedagogical approach of conducting 2 Interprofessional Education (IPE) sessions focused on IPE Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies in a required pharmacy and nursing didactic course. The secondary objective was to use quantitative and qualitative methods to assess students' self-reported IPE knowledge, skills, and attitudes after the IPE sessions. METHODS: Sessions consisted of active learning exercises with supplemental lectures, emphasizing students work together to find optimal solutions to both clinical and nonclinical problems. Time was allotted for debriefing and discussion. Students completed a post-session reflection with 6 guided questions to collect qualitative themes. Participants also completed the W(e) Learn Interprofessional Program Assessment Scale, a survey designed to assess student perceptions of the interprofessional sessions. We used t tests for comparing scores among relevant subgroups. RESULTS: From 2017-2019, 263 students attended 2 annual IPE sessions in a required, introductory course. Small group didactic activities with faculty-led debriefing were included in each session. A total of 111 students fully completed the scale and average scores were high (Mean = 197.5, SD = 15.96). Thematic analysis of reflections revealed that students recognized teamwork, mutual respect, effective communication, and understanding the roles and responsibilities of the interprofessional team helped improve patient care. CONCLUSION: Including joint IPE sessions in a foundational didactic course was a feasible and successful IPE component. Sessions provided students with experience practicing foundational skills for interprofessional communication and teamwork. Students reported high satisfaction and valued the sessions, as indicated by quantitative surveys and qualitative themes.

Finalizing the Work Related to the Curriculum Outcomes and Example Objectives and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) Document: The Report of the 2022-2023 Academic Affairs Standing Committee.

The 2022-2023 Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) was charged to (1) complete the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) revisions (now renamed as COEPA - Curriculum Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities) after receiving feedback at the 2022 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Annual Meeting; (2) offer guidance on how the revised COEPA education outcomes and EPA statements should be used by member institutions, faculty, preceptor, and students; (3) guide input into the ongoing revision of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) standards for the Doctor of Pharmacy program. The published report of the 2021-2022 AAC outlines the work of the Committee through the spring of 2022.1 This 2022-2023 AAC report focuses on the work related to finalizing the COEPA educational outcomes, EPAs, preamble, and glossary and formally receiving approval from the AACP Board of Directors.2 This report also describes the creation of a COEPA guidance document, including educational outcomes example learning objectives, and EPA example tasks for the Academy, however, the actual guidance document will be published separately. Finally, this current report outlines the feedback the AAC sought, received, synthesized, summarized, and prioritized from key interested and affected parties about the ACPE 2016 standards revisions for the ACPE 2025 draft standards.3 The Committee offers revisions for 1 AACP policy statement pertaining to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, justice, and anti-racism. One new policy statement is also offered that urges ACPE to create accreditation standards for pharmacy education that support diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, justice, and anti-racism, despite presence of laws, executive orders, and policies that oppose these concepts.

The AACP Academic Affairs Committee's Final 2022 Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) for Pharmacy Graduates to Replace 2013 CAPE and 2016 EPAs.

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Academic Affairs Committee was charged with revising both the 2013 Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Educational Outcomes (EOs) and the 2016 Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs). The Committee changed the document name from the CAPE outcomes to COEPA, (Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities) since the EOs and EPAs would now be housed together. A draft of the COEPA EOs and EPAs was released at the AACP July 2022 Annual meeting. After receiving additional stakeholder feedback during and after the meeting, the Committee made additional revisions. The final COEPA document was submitted to and approved by the AACP Board of Directors in November 2022. This COEPA document contains the final version of the 2022 EOs and EPAs. The revised EOs have been reduced to 3 domains and 12 subdomains (from 4 domains and 15 subdomains previously in CAPE 2013) and the revised EPAs have been reduced from 15 to 13 activities.

The AACP Academic Affairs Committee's Guidance for Use of the Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) for Pharmacy Graduates.

The 2021-2023 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) was charged with and completed the revision of the 2013 Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education Outcomes and the 2016 Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) statements for new pharmacy graduates. This work resulted in a new combined document, the Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) that was unanimously approved by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Board of Directors and was published in the Journal. The AAC was also charged with providing stakeholders with guidance about how to use the new COEPA document. To achieve this charge, the AAC created example objectives for all 12 Educational Outcomes (EOs) and example tasks for all 13 EPAs. Although programs are asked to retain the EO domains, subdomains, one-word descriptors, and descriptions, unless they are adding more EOs or increasing the taxonomy level of a description, colleges and schools of pharmacy can expand or edit the example objectives and example tasks to meet local needs, as these are not designed to be prescriptive. This guidance document is published separately from the COEPA EOs and EPAs to reinforce the message that the example objectives and tasks are modifiable.

Revising the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Educational Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs): The Report of the 2021-2022 Academic Affairs Standing Committee.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The 2021-22 Academic Affairs Committee was charged to 1) Update the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) statements for new pharmacy graduates; 2) Nominate at least one person for an elected AACP or Council Office; and 3) Consider ways that AACP can improve its financial health. This report primarily focuses on the process undertaken by the committee to revise the CAPE Educational Outcomes and EPAs. Proposed changes to the current outcomes are discussed and the reasoning behind these revisions are described. AACP members will have the opportunity to provide feedback prior to the final document being approved and published later this year.

Utilization of an emotional intelligence workshop to enhance student pharmacists' self-awareness.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study evaluated the impact of an emotional intelligence (EI) workshop as a tool to improve student pharmacists' self-awareness. The primary objectives were to assess the change in student pharmacists' self-awareness as measured by the Self-Awareness Outcomes Questionnaire (SAOQ) and identify trends in their self-reflection. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: A four-hour EI workshop was delivered in a first-year required student pharmacist leadership course. The components of the workshop included: an EI assessment via the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0) administered to student pharmacists outside of class, active learning class time that applied the principles of EI to leadership and group dynamics, and peer-to-peer discussions. Personal results of the EQ-i 2.0 were reviewed individually and in small groups. Student pharmacists completed a self-reflection and EI action plan outside of class. The SAOQ was completed before and after the workshop and the aggregated Likert scales were analyzed by paired t-tests. FINDINGS: After two consecutive course offerings of the workshop (N = 100), there was a significant increase in the total SAOQ score as well as a significant increase for the three positive subscales: reflective self-development, acceptance, and proactivity. There was no change in the negative subscale: emotional costs. Student pharmacists positively perceived the workshop and reported that the activities motivated students to improve their interpersonal skills and increase extracurricular involvement. DISCUSSION: Implementing an EI workshop is an effective curricular method to improve the affective domain of student development, specifically self-awareness.

A Curriculum Crosswalk of the Core Entrustable Professional Activities for New Pharmacy Graduates.

Objective. To cross reference the core entrustable professional activities (EPAs) to a complete set of educational guidance documents for the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum to create a map for pharmacy educators.Methods. The Mapping EPAs Task Force consisted of nine members who first worked independently and then together in small working groups to map five assigned educational guidance documents (eg, Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education [CAPE] Outcomes, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education [ACPE] Standards 1-4, and the Essential Elements for Core Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences [APPEs]) to the Core Entrustable Professional Activities for New Pharmacy Graduates. Four working groups completed the mapping process during phases 1 and 2, which was followed by an independent quality assurance review and consensus in phase 3.Results. All 15 core EPA statements were mapped to one or more of the educational documents. One item from the CAPE Outcomes could not be mapped to a core EPA statement. The first five EPA statements mapped directly to the five elements of the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process: collect, assess, plan, implement, and follow-up: monitor and evaluate.Conclusion. This comprehensive EPA map is the first curriculum crosswalk that encompasses a complete set of educational guidance documents including the Essential Elements for Core APPEs for the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. If adopted by the Academy, this curriculum crosswalk will provide pharmacy schools with a common interpretation of important educational guidance documents; serve as the foundation for curricular development, revision, and assessment; and ensure student pharmacists are prepared to enter the pharmacy profession.

AdvoCaring: A Cocurricular Program to Provide Advocacy and Caring to Underserved Populations in Baltimore.

Objective. To incorporate direct patient care and service components throughout a 4-year pharmacy program to enable students to apply knowledge learned in the classroom and develop the human and caring dimensions of Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning. Design. Groups of 10-12 students and a faculty advisor partnered with a local agency serving an underserved population of the greater Baltimore area to provide seven hours of service per student each semester. Activities were determined based on students' skills and agency needs. Assessment. Over 10 000 hours of care were provided from fall 2009 through spring 2014 for clients at 12 partner agencies. Student feedback was favorable. Conclusion. Cocurricular learning enables students to use their skills to benefit local communities. Through an ongoing partnership, students are able to build on experiences and sustain meaningful care initiatives.

Introduction of a continuing professional development tool for preceptors: lessons learned.

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) guidelines state that preceptors should "have a systematic, self-directed approach to their own continuing professional development (CPD)." The objective of this study was to encourage preceptors to take advantage of the ACPE CPD resources and implement the concept of CPD (reflect, plan, act, evaluate, record) as a framework for guiding individual preceptor's continuing development as educators and to determine their opinion regarding the usefulness, effectiveness, and obstacles to implementation of this approach. A total of 3713 preceptors from the participating schools were encouraged to undergo CPD training and invited to respond to a series of questions. Of the initial respondents, 48% represented health system/hospital preceptors, followed by community/independent pharmacists (64 of 236, 28%). Preceptor respondents often train students from multiple schools/colleges (average = 1.9 schools/colleges per preceptor) and 90% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, "the CPD model, as learned in the webcasts, is beneficial for ongoing preceptor development." The general consensus was that the preceptor portfolio provided motivation to reflect, plan, and set more defined and realistic goals for students, residents, and themselves as educators and could be a valuable starting point for promoting preceptors' reflection, planning, and action related to rotation management, professional teaching, and student learning goals.

Incorporating an immunization certificate program into the pharmacy curriculum.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the method of incorporating an immunization certificate training program, such as the American Pharmacists Association's (APhA) Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery into a pharmacy curriculum. DESIGN: The program was delivered over 3 weeks in the spring semester of the third professional year (P3) as part of a required Pharmacy Care Lab sequence. ASSESSMENT: Student response surveys and faculty input were used to evaluate the placement of the program in the curriculum. CONCLUSION: Optional comments yielded more than 44% of students providing positive open-ended feedback regarding the course while almost 10% felt the course should not be mandated in the curriculum.

Rosuvastatin for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.

Rosuvastatin, a new hydrophilic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor (statin), is approved as an adjunct to diet in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia, mixed dyslipidemia, or Fredrickson type IV hypercholesterolemia. Because of its increased affinity for the reductase, rosuvastatin reduces the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) level more than atorvastatin, simvastatin, and pravastatin do, without additional adverse effects. In addition, cytochrome P450 isoenzymes do not extensively metabolize rosuvastatin, and inhibitors of these isoenzymes do not substantially affect it. Rosuvastatin could be a first-line option for patients requiring a reduction of 50% or more to reach the LDL goal of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. Rosuvastatin monotherapy may allow patients to achieve this LDL goal earlier, and it may help them avoid combination therapy or potential adverse effects of high-dose statin therapy. However, because cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality data are lacking for rosuvastatin (but available for all other marketed statins) and because its postmarketing data are limited, rosuvastatin should be reserved for patients requiring an LDL reduction of 50% or less who cannot reach the recommended goal with other statins because of adverse effects, drug interactions, or cost.

Treatment of female sexual dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE: To review the pathophysiology and psychology of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) and describe potential prevention and treatment strategies for the disorder. DATA SOURCES: Articles identified from a MEDLINE search (1966-June 2002) using the term female sexual dysfunction. Additional references were obtained from cross referencing retrieved articles. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: After evaluating various review articles, clinical trials, and investigational studies, all information that was deemed relevant by the reviewers was included. DATA SYNTHESIS: FSD is a multicausal and multidimensional problem combining biological, psychological, and interpersonal factors. The American Foundation for Urological Disease classifies FSD into 4 broad categories: sexual desire disorders, arousal disorder, orgasmic disorder, and sexual pain disorders. Depending on specific individual characteristics and category of disorder, a variety of potential treatments are available. Pharmacists can play a role in identifying and managing medication-related adverse effects that may be exacerbating FSD and educating women on treatment modalities. CONCLUSIONS: FSD is a complicated disorder that is often difficult to identify, classify, and treat appropriately. Pharmacists should have an understanding of the potential causes of FSD and the treatment options available so that they may make appropriate recommendations and counsel women effectively.

Role of budesonide inhalation suspension in children with asthma.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of budesonide inhalation suspension (BIS) in the treatment of children with asthma. DATA SOURCES: Literature identified through Medline (1966-November 2000) and references obtained from selected articles. Search terms included budesonide and asthma. DATA SYNTHESIS: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects approximately 4.8 million children in the US. By reducing inflammation, corticosteroids decrease symptoms and improve lung function. As the first nebulized corticosteroid, BIS offers an important treatment option for children with persistent asthma. CONCLUSIONS: BIS is effective in reducing symptoms and improving lung function in children with asthma. It should be used in children ages 1-8 years with moderate to severe persistent asthma who are unable to effectively use a metered-dose inhaler with or without a spacer or a dry-powder inhaler.