Development and assessment of a nationwide, cross-discipline women faculty mentoring program.

INTRODUCTION: Professional health care associations present a unique opportunity for formal mentorship programs, with membership often spanning a variety of experiences, professional ranks, and institutions. However, scarce literature describes the role of professional associations in the development and assessment of mentoring programs. This paper describes development of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Women Faculty Special Interest Group (SIG) mentoring program and characterizes the impact of the program. METHODS: The task force collaboratively developed the mission, vision, and structure of the mentoring program, posted the program description on the SIG's electronic forum, and called for mentors and mentees via an online survey asking for matching preferences. The task force reviewed responses and designated matches. Participants were emailed match information and a guidance document. The program was assessed at three, six, and 12 months via electronic survey. RESULTS: The program matched 43 mentors with 77 mentees, with each mentor assigned one to three mentees. At the three- and six-month assessments, 89% and 87% of respondents, respectively, indicated they had met with their mentor/mentee. At the 12-month assessment, 86% of mentor respondents and 80% of mentee respondents stated the mentoring program met their needs/expectations. Career goal development, work/life integration, and difficult work situations were the most frequently discussed topics. Most participants stated they would continue to serve as a mentor/mentee in a future cycle and recommend other faculty members participate. CONCLUSIONS: Results from three-, six-, and 12-month assessments indicated a positive impact of developing a nationwide, organizational, cross-discipline mentoring program.

A Self-Assessment Guide for Resident Teaching Experiences.

The 2015 American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Educational Affairs Committee was charged with developing a self-assessment guide for residency programs to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the outcomes of resident teaching curricula. After extensively reviewing the literature, the committee developed assessment rubrics modeled after the 2013 ACCP white paper titled "Guidelines for Resident Teaching Experiences" and the revised American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) 2014 accreditation standards for PGY1 residencies, which place greater emphasis on the teaching and learning curriculum (TLC) than the previous accreditation standards. The self-assessment guide developed by the present committee can serve as an assessment tool for both basic and expanded TLCs. It provides the criteria for program goals, mentoring, directed readings with topic discussions, teaching experiences, and assessment methodology. For an expanded TLC, the committee has provided additional guidance on developing a teaching philosophy, becoming involved in interactive seminars, expanding teaching experiences, developing courses, and serving on academic committees. All the guidelines listed in the present paper use the measures "not present," "developing," and "well developed" so that residency program directors can self-assess along the continuum and identify areas of excellence and areas for improvement. Residency program directors should consider using this new assessment tool to measure program quality and outcomes of residency teaching experiences. Results of the assessment will help residency programs focus on areas within the TLC that will potentially benefit from additional attention and possible modification.

Academic pharmacy and patient-centered health care: a model to prepare the next generation of pharmacists.

OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence regarding existing partnerships between academic pharmacy and primary care that focus on training practitioners in patient-centered health care (PCHC). DATA SOURCES: The report of the 2009-10 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Professional Affairs Committee identified 25 current U.S.-based examples of PCHC that incorporate the training and preparation of both student pharmacists and pharmacy residents. SUMMARY: The most frequently reported health care delivery model was an ambulatory care clinic followed by a Department of Veterans Affairs or military hospital clinic. Pharmacists worked alongside a variety of other health care providers in these settings. Collaboration occurred most commonly with family and internal medicine physicians but also with specialists such as psychiatrists, obstetricians/gynecologists, hematologists/oncologists, and other health care providers (e.g., nurses, physician assistants, dieticians, social workers). CONCLUSION: In light of the increasing demand for primary care services, pharmacists' documented ability to address these needs and the resulting benefits to patients, providers, and systems in these models, developing strategies for promoting pharmacist integration into PCHC is essential. Academic pharmacy provides a valuable platform for this integration through its expert faculty clinician involvement in care and practice-based research and student pharmacist and pharmacy residency training.

A vidcasting project to promote the pharmacist's role in public health.

OBJECTIVE: To develop, implement, and assess an Internet-based vidcasting project to promote the pharmacist's role in public health. DESIGN: This was a collaborative effort for 2 different courses taught at 2 different schools of pharmacy. Faculty members created a special instructional design for students to follow in planning, producing, and publishing video public service announcements on the Internet. ASSESSMENT: Formative and summative assessments, including course examinations, a grading rubric, student survey, and focus group, were implemented to evaluate student learning and public reaction. Students believed Internet video public service announcements served as a useful reference for patients and professionals, aided in promoting disease prevention and wellness initiatives, positively impacted patient-provider relationships, and increased awareness regarding significance and financial impact of disease burden. CONCLUSION: Producing a public health information video and vidcasting it on the Internet increased pharmacy students' self-esteem, respect for peers, creative and critical-thinking abilities, and understanding of the need for and importance of pharmacists providing accurate public health information.