The Report of the 2016-2017 Professional Affairs Standing Committee: Formally Embracing and Engaging Preceptors in the Academy - The Time Has Come.

The 2016-2017 AACP Professional Affairs Committee (PAC) was charged to examine strategies to include adjunct/affiliate preceptors as AACP members and to determine the value proposition of AACP membership for this group of educators. The PAC defined adjunct/affiliate preceptors as preceptors who are neither full-time employees nor have a primary employment commitment (≥50% of the preceptor's work salary) at a school/college of pharmacy. Specific charges to the PAC included: recommend an approach to increase the number of adjunct/affiliate preceptors as AACP members, examine AACP membership from an adjunct/affiliate preceptor value perspective, and prepare a concise summary of available literature describing value-added contributions of student pharmacists and pharmacy preceptors to pharmacy practice models, interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional practice (IPP). The summary of the plan developed by the PAC to address the charges is presented in the following report, which includes three sections: the value proposition of AACP membership for adjunct/affiliate preceptors, expansion of the presence of adjunct/affiliate preceptors in AACP, and the value of student pharmacists in experiential education settings. The value proposition of AACP membership for adjunct/affiliate preceptors section describes results of surveys and focus groups conducted by the PAC. The PAC surveyed experiential education directors at schools/colleges of pharmacy, adjunct/affiliate preceptors (from a request via the experiential education directors), and new pharmacy practice faculty members in order to determine current resources available for adjunct/affiliate preceptor development, as well as explore potential resources AACP could provide for adjunct/affiliate preceptor development. Focus groups were held with adjunct/affiliate preceptors and experiential education faculty/staff to explore some of the results and concepts generated from the surveys. The PAC developed three recommendations for AACP as a result of the surveys and focus groups. The report also describes various factors that should be considered by AACP in developing a membership category for adjunct/affiliate preceptors, including potential membership models, establishment of an advisory board, and collaboration with other stakeholder groups. The final section of the report provides an executive summary and detailed table, which summarizes available literature on the value of student pharmacists in experiential education. The brief literature review reinforces that there are many different practice settings where student pharmacists add value to patient care and the practice site. This information is significant for experiential education faculty/staff, as well as adjunct/affiliate preceptors, and serves as an example of best practices which document the value experiential education provides to patient care and practice sites. The final section of the report provides a policy statement that was adopted by the 2017 AACP House of Delegates and one suggestion to schools/colleges of pharmacy. The report concludes with a call to action regarding the formal involvement of adjunct/affiliate preceptors by AACP and the academy.

Implementation and evaluation of activities to foster a sense of community among pharmacy students.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of a series of team-based instructional activities on students' sense of community for pharmacy students assigned to the main and distance program sites. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In conjunction with a teaching objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) conducted at the program's distance site, several team-based sense of community activities were completed. The classroom and school community inventory (CSCI) was adapted and administered to students prior to and following all learning activities to measure course and program sense of community. RESULTS: Pre- and post-surveys were completed by 116 students. Course and program sense of community significantly increased among students at the distance site (p = 0.007 and p = 0.008, respectively). No significant changes were found for students assigned to the main site. CONCLUSION: For programs with multiple sites, activities designed to enhance sense of community and conducted at the distance site are effective for students assigned to the distance site.

The CHADS2versus the new CHA2DS2-VASc scoring systems for guiding antithrombotic treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation: review of the literature and recommendations for use.

The association of atrial fibrillation and resultant thromboembolic stroke is readily recognized in the published literature. However, the identification and weight of other risk factors that increase stroke risk are varied. To predict which patients are at greatest risk for thromboembolic stroke, numerous risk stratification schemas have been developed to guide thromboprophylactic treatment decisions. The well-known CHADS(2) scoring system incorporates risk factors such as congestive heart failure, hypertension, age 75 years or older, diabetes mellitus, and previous stroke or transient ischemic attack. Recently, a novel risk stratification model, CHA2DS2 -VASc, has entered the literature and international guidelines, prompting further review of newly added risk factors-age 65-74 years, presence of vascular disease, and female sex-and the increased allotment of 2 points (vs 1 point in CHADS2) for age 75 years or older. The rationale for CHA2DS2 -VASc, as put forth by its authors, is that other risk assessment models omit important risk factors, have low predictive ability, and categorize too many patients as intermediate risk, leaving the choice of anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy to the discretion of the clinician. Although CHA2DS2 -VASc readily identifies those patients truly at low risk, it classifies more patients as high risk who would then receive anticoagulation therapy. Therefore, implementation of this risk schema warrants further evaluation, especially when weighing the risk for bleeding and the risk for stroke. This critical review provides practitioners with an understanding of the literature that prompted the inclusion of these new risk factors and increased point allocations, compares and contrasts the risk schemas, and reviews national and international guidelines, thereby equipping the health care provider with the knowledge to aid clinical decision-making.