Pharmacy Students' Perception of the Content and Delivery of Drug Information Training: A Mixed-Methods Study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the pharmacy students' perception of the content and pedagogical strategies used for the delivery of drug information (DI) training. METHODS: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was conducted among BSc Pharmacy and PharmD students at the College of Pharmacy, Qatar University. The first phase consisted of a quantitative cross-sectional survey using a 34-item pretested questionnaire. The Donabedian framework guided the development of the questionnaire. This was followed by a phenomenological qualitative phase that was conducted based on the result of the first phase. Descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis were used for data analyses. RESULTS: The completion and usable rates were 88.7% (102 of 115) and 91.2% (93 of 102) respectively. The online resources used for the delivery of DI and the progressive structuring from year 1 to 4 were reported to be adequate by a majority of the respondents (93.55%). Ninety percent of the students opined that the use of simulation-based assessments improved their integration of the theoretical and practical aspects, and their preparedness to apply the DI concepts in practice. However, 20% of the participants reported inconsistency of the DI curricular content with some practices encountered during their experiential learning exposures. The themes identified from the focus group discussion included the perceived value and skills acquired from the DI content, availability and currency of DI resources, students' preparedness, curricular structuring of DI content, and reflection on and recommendations to improve DI coverage and delivery. CONCLUSION: The curricular structuring of the DI content across varieties of relevant undergraduate pharmacy courses from the lower to higher professional years and its focus on the progressive development of DI-related competencies appeared to have enhanced the students' perception of the relevance, appropriateness, and utility of the content, resources, and pedagogical strategies used for the delivery of DI education at the undergraduate level.

Design and Development of Inexpensive Paper-Based Chemosensors for Detection of Divalent Copper.

Simple, portable, and low-cost paper-based sensors are alternative devices that have the potential to replace high-cost sensing technologies. The compatibility of the paper base biosensors for both chemical and biochemical accentuates its feasibility for application in clinical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and food quality monitoring. High concentration of copper in blood serum and urine is associated with diseases like liver diseases, carcinomas, acute and chronic infections, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. Detection of copper concentration can give an early sign of Alzheimer disease. Apart from that genetic Wilson's disease can be detected by evaluating the concentration of copper in the urine. In view of the above advantages, a novel and the highly sensitive paper-based sensor has been designed for the selective detection of Cu2+ ions. The fast and highly sensitive chemiresistive multi-dye system sensor can detect Cu2+ ions selectively in as low as 2.23 ppm concentration. Least interference has been observed for counter ion in the detection of Cu2+. Copper chloride, nitrate, and acetate were used to validate the detection process. This assay provides a very high selectivity of Cu2+ ion over other metal cations such as Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, etc. The easy preparation and high stability of dye solutions, easy functionalization of the paper-based sensors, high selectivity over other cations, low interference of counter anion, and significantly low detection limit of 2.23 ppm make it an effective Cu2+ ion sensor for real-time application in near future.