Teaching History of Pharmacy in U.S. Pharmacy Schools.

Objective. To determine how the standards for teaching pharmacy history were met by U.S. pharmacy schools, whether schools wanted to expand their commitment to pharmacy history, what pedagogical assistance, if any, was desired, and whether elective courses were offered. Methods. There were 133 school deans who were asked to identify the responsible faculty for teaching pharmacy history. A 10-question online survey instrument was designed and emailed to these faculty or the dean if no faculty were identified. Follow-up emails were sent at 2-week intervals. If they were non-responsive after three attempts, then telephone solicitation was attempted. Results. There were 100 schools (75%) that responded. Fifty-three percent were public and 47% were private; with 50% having class sizes of 100 or less, 41% with 101-250, and 9% having over 250. Eighty-six percent of respondents meet the ACPE requirement within a required course. Seventy-two percent devote only one to five hours of instruction to meet the requirement. Sixty-eight percent use no supporting literature, and among those who do, there was no common textbook. Interestingly, 21% wanted more teaching time, and 91% desired pedagogical assistance, varying from a packaged course (26%) to a syllabus with assignments and assessment banks (23%). Conclusion. Since no time or material guidelines were established to fulfill the ACPE pharmacy history educational requirements, these results provide a starting point to judge what is adequate and/or preferred. With the development of teaching guidelines and adoptable teaching materials, the pedagogical solution to this ACPE standard may become more complete and consistent.

Writing PharmD program-level, ability-based outcomes: key elements for success.

A set of PharmD program curricular outcomes form the foundation of a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum and are critical to the development of both the structure/courses of the curriculum and the assessment plan for the program. A goal for developing these outcomes is to craft a set of clear, concise, assessable statements that accurately reflect competencies of the generalist entry-level pharmacist or graduate of the first-professional doctor of pharmacy degree. This article will provide a review of one specific type of outcome, ability-based outcomes, and present a case study of how one college revised their PharmD program-level outcomes. A discussion of key elements for the successful adoption of these outcomes is also presented.