Point/Counterpoint: Are Outstanding Leaders Born or Made?

The question of whether outstanding leaders are born or made has been debated for years. There are numerous examples of historical figures that came naturally to leadership, while others developed their leadership skills through tenacity and experience. To understand leadership, both nature (the genetic component) and nurture (the environmental influences) must be considered. This article represents the work of two Academic Leadership Fellows Program groups who debated each position at the 2016 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Interim Meeting in Tampa, Fla., in February 2016.

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.

The value of pharmacy services on a short-term medical mission trip: description of services and assessment of team satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists should be key members of a medical mission trip by providing assistance with medication knowledge and therapeutics. OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of a pharmacist as a member of a medical mission team through (1) pharmacy interventions on 2 medical teams and 1 women's health team and (2) team satisfaction with the pharmacy services. METHODS: Pharmacy interventions were documented by 2 medical teams and 1 women's health team and included, but were not limited to, dosing recommendations, medication selection, and therapeutic substitution. Team satisfaction was determined from a 10-question survey administered on the last clinical day to all team members except pharmacists, pharmacy students, and physical therapists. RESULTS: The pharmacy service dispensed 2119 prescriptions, with an average number of prescriptions of 1.84 per patient. A total of 2340 interventions were provided by the pharmacy service, averaging 2.04 interventions per patient and 1.1 interventions per prescription. The survey indicated that a pharmacist serves an integral role for the multidisciplinary medical team. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacists play an important role in a short-term medical mission trip by serving as sources for medication knowledge and ensuring appropriate medication therapy management as part of the interdisciplinary team.