Implementation of ungrading in the pharmacy curriculum.

BACKGROUND: Ungrading is an alternative assessment approach that focuses on feedback provided to students in place of grades. Giving feedback as opposed to grades has been shown to increase intrinsic learner motivation, promote deeper learning, and decrease stress and anxiety. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY: Four pharmacy faculty implemented ungrading practices into required pharmacy courses, including two pharmacy practice lab courses and two didactic courses. Specific strategies such as formative feedback, peer assessment, self-reflection, and small and large group discussions were incorporated to achieve the learning objectives for each course. This work provides details about the assignments and assessments used in each course. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY: Anonymous surveys were administered to faculty members and students at a Midwest School of Pharmacy. Faculty members expressed varying levels of satisfaction and stress related to grading assessments. They also shared their opinions on teaching courses without traditional grades. The student survey examined factors such as grade point average (GPA), study time, and enjoyment of the pharmacy program. It also captured general opinions about grades. Based on survey results the implementation of ungrading practices helped students feel more prepared for advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). The findings contribute to the understanding of alternative grading approaches and their potential impact on student learning, well-being, and motivation. Rethinking assessment of student work may be a valid option for pharmacy schools, particularly in the setting of increased focus on student wellness and the educator's goal of increasing learning for all students.

Bracketology in Pharmacy Education: The Impact of March Medication Madness on Student Engagement and Knowledge.

Description of the Problem. Gamification is used in pharmacy education as an innovative learning strategy to engage learners with educational content. The March Medication Madness activity used bracketology, a type of gamification not previously described in pharmacy education literature, to increase student engagement and knowledge of key disease states. The Innovation. The activity was developed for use in a capstone course during the final semester of the didactic pharmacy curriculum. Students created medication-related pearls that were placed in a tournament-style bracket. Students then completed brackets to predict the winning pearls and voted biweekly to determine the most clinically significant pearl. Student knowledge was assessed pre- and post-activity along with a post-activity perception assessment. Critical Analysis. Of the 52 student participant responses, most agreed or strongly agreed that the activity increased understanding and stimulated interest in course material, while adding a fun element to the course. There was a statistically significant increase (P = .002) in the average percentage of multiple-choice questions students answered correctly from the pre-test (57.7% ± 1.5%) to the posttest (63.1% ± 1.9%). Pearls that received the most votes were no more likely to be associated with an increase in knowledge than pearls receiving fewer votes. Next Steps. Implementation of a bracketology activity was perceived by students as fun, engaging, and beneficial in understanding course material. However, increase in knowledge was limited. This shows the importance of structuring gamification in a way that provides educational value and underscores the need to modify the activity to promote student learning.

Design and Assessment of a Pharmacy Student-Delivered Preceptor Development Program.

Objective. To design and assess the use of a pharmacy student-delivered preceptor development program.Methods. A student-delivered preceptor development program was developed to ensure all preceptors received documented preceptor development. A menu of discussion topics and associated teaching sheets were created by the school's office of experiential education. On each rotation, advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) students led discussions with their preceptors on a topic chosen by the preceptor and submitted documentation of the education. Preceptors answered a survey related to the amount of information and time required for the program, their preference for different formats of preceptor development, one important thing they learned through the program, and future development topics of interest. Students were interviewed regarding their perceptions and use of the program.Results. A novel student-delivered preceptor development program resulted in documentation of preceptor development for all APPE rotations. Seventy-nine preceptors (31% response rate) participated in the survey. In their responses, preceptors generally agreed that they were able to customize their development and incorporate what they learned into practice, and that the program had a convenient format and was valuable for preparing students to be future preceptors. Students reported that the program improved their confidence in communicating with a supervisor and prepared them for precepting.Conclusion. A student-delivered preceptor development program improved documented preceptor development. The program allowed preceptors to customize development opportunities in a convenient format. It was perceived positively by preceptors who would recommend the program to other schools of pharmacy.

Evaluation of a Pharmacist-Led COVID-19 Vaccination Program in a Hospital Setting.

PURPOSE: A pharmacist-led COVID-19 vaccination screening and administration tool was implemented at a tertiary care hospital in the Upper Midwest, allowing pharmacists to determine if an inpatient is a candidate for the COVID-19 vaccination. The purpose of this observational study was to examine the feasibility of a pharmacist-led, COVID-19 vaccination administration workflow to the inpatient population in a tertiary care hospital. METHODS: This observational study was conducted at an Upper-Midwest facility and includes a study population of adult patients admitted to the hospital between 10/1/2021 - 1/1/2022. The primary outcome of this study was the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered. Secondary outcomes included the number of attending physician approvals, pharmacist time dedicated to the vaccination program, patient demographics, and patient acceptance of vaccination. Group differences were evaluated using odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals, Pearson's chi-square test, the Mann-Whitney U test, and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: There were 715 patients eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccination. Of those, 23 (3.2%) patients received a COVID-19 vaccine while inpatient. After adjusting for sex at birth, age at admission, and length of hospital stay, compared to previously unvaccinated patients, those with their second dose due were 7.3 times more likely to have been given a vaccination (95% CI 1.3-42.1, P = 0.026), while patients with their booster due were 4 times more likely to have been given a vaccination (95% CI 1.3-12.3, P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: Although unvaccinated patients were successfully identified, only 23 were able to be vaccinated. Additional barriers need to be addressed to make this program successful.

An online escape room used to support the growth of teamwork in health professions students.

Effective teamwork in the online environment is essential to patient care and safety. The need for training health professionals to work together on a virtual interprofessional team has become even more important since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as telehealth, or the provision of virtual healthcare to patients, has become more common. This resource describes the development of an online escape room activity using free online resources. The activity aimed to enhance health profession students' abilities to communicate effectively, work together to complete a task, and develop knowledge of the unique roles of healthcare team members in a course dedicated to interprofessional education. Teams of five to seven students met online and completed seven puzzles to escape a virtual room. Results obtained from the pre-post surveys of 176 students across six disciplines showed the activity aided in increasing participants perceptions of their ability to communicate respectfully and work together to complete a task, while developing knowledge of the unique roles of members of the healthcare team, all components of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies. This activity lays the groundwork for collaborative, interprofessional activities, such as telehealth, which students will be exposed to in their futures, and the results infer that the activity can help to build collaboration among team members, even team members that are not in the same physical space.

Beyond Pills: Acupressure Impact on Self-Rated Pain and Anxiety Scores.

Objectives: To determine impact of an acupressure protocol on self-rated pain and anxiety scores. Design: Retrospective database analysis of self-rated pain and anxiety scores before and immediately after administration of stress release acupressure protocol. Participants: Participants include hospitalized patients, nurses, and public. Intervention: Involves a 16-point stress release acupressure protocol. Outcome measures: Outcome measures involve pre- and post-treatment self-rated pain scores (0-10) with the Wong-Baker Faces Scale and pre- and post-treatment self-rated anxiety scores (0-10) on a visual analog scale. Results: Five hundred and nineteen acupressure treatments were retrospectively analyzed with pre- and post-treatment self-rated pain and anxiety scores, where 0 represented no pain or anxiety and 10 represented the worst pain and anxiety. Overall, participants demonstrated a two-point decrease in pain scores and a four-point decrease in anxiety scores post-treatment. Hospitalized patients demonstrated a four-point decrease in pain scores and a five-point decrease in anxiety scores post-treatment. Nurses demonstrated a three-point decrease in pain scores and four-point decrease in anxiety scores post-treatment. Public population demonstrated a one-point decrease in pain scores and two-point decrease in anxiety scores post-treatment. Seventy-five percent of participants were highly satisfied with acupressure treatments, and 96% of treatments were administered in less than 30 minutes. Conclusions: Acupressure is a highly satisfactory complementary therapy that can demonstrate a clinically significant decrease in self-rated pain and anxiety scores.