Impact of COVID-19 on Pharmacy Education and Practice: Strategies to Boost Advocacy and Unity among Health Care Organizations.

The global COVID-19 pandemic impacted pharmacy education and changed the pharmacists' scope of practice at the federal and state levels. Based on the Amended Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, pharmacists were authorized to provide essential services, including testing, treatments, and immunizations at various practice settings. Specifically, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for several medications, vaccines, and medical devices. The pandemic also affected the regulatory landscape for pharmacists, pharmacy education, access to care, and delivery of pharmacy services in-person and through telehealth. The pandemic's specific impact on pharmacy education heightened awareness of the well-being of the Academy. This commentary will highlight the impact of COVID-19 on both pharmacy education and practice. It will also provide strategies that educators, researchers, and practitioners can take into future research and action to help promote advocacy and unity among pharmacy organizations.

Room Temperature Intrinsic Emission Ratio of BSA Correlates With Percent Aggregates During Long-Term Storage.

Successful formulation development hinges on the ability to screen and identify excipients that stabilize drug products during long-term storage. Biophysical and accelerated stability studies are used to screen for excipients that stabilize protein drug products. However, these studies are not always predictive of aggregation during long-term storage. In this study, we used multivariate experimentation to compare the effectiveness of intrinsic fluorescence and size exclusion chromatography accelerated stability parameters to predict excipients that stabilized bovine serum albumin (BSA) against aggregation on long-term storage at 4 °C. Emission intensity ratio (IR330/350) data was more sensitive than emission maxima (λmax) or intensity measurements in identifying significant factors and interactions. We observed the expected inverse correlation between the mid-points of fluorescence thermal transitions (Tms) and insoluble aggregates at 4 and 40 °C. However, there were positive correlations between Tms and % aggregates at 4 °C, indicating that if Tm was used as a predictive tool, it would select formulations that promoted soluble aggregates on long-term storage. Ambient temperature IR330/350 measurements identified excipients that reduced BSA soluble aggregates on long-term storage. The results show ambient temperature emission ratio measurements can be useful for protein formulation development.

The effect of repeated testing of pharmacy calculations and drug knowledge to improve knowledge retention in pharmacy students.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Repeated testing has been shown to improve knowledge retention in students. However, there is limited literature on the effect of repeated testing in pharmacy students. Our objective was to determine if repeated testing improved retention of pharmacy calculations and drug knowledge. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: Second, third, and fourth year pharmacy students were invited to participate in this voluntary study. Participants were divided into GPA categories and randomly assigned to a control or study group. Seven quizzes were given to the study group over one academic year. No quizzes were given to the control group. Both groups had access to the question bank from which the quizzes were constructed. A final exam and survey were given to both groups at the end of the study. FINDINGS: We did not find an effect of repeated testing on knowledge retention for the study group compared to the control group in the study. However, when fourth year students were excluded from the analysis, we observed a benefit of repeated testing for lower-performing students. Over 90% of survey respondents agreed that repeated testing promoted long term knowledge and that students should test themselves repeatedly. However, approximately 60% of students admitted to not testing themselves repeatedly. Nearly 85% of survey respondents agreed that the school should implement a repeated testing program. SUMMARY: Overall, students believe repeated testing is beneficial, but few do it on their own. Repeated testing showed a benefit in at-risk students. Implementing a program of repeated testing can help low-performing students succeed academically.

The Validation of a Case-Based, Cumulative Assessment and Progressions Examination.

OBJECTIVE: To assess content and criterion validity, as well as reliability of an internally developed, case-based, cumulative, high-stakes third-year Annual Student Assessment and Progression Examination (P3 ASAP Exam). METHODS: Content validity was assessed through the writing-reviewing process. Criterion validity was assessed by comparing student scores on the P3 ASAP Exam with the nationally validated Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment (PCOA). Reliability was assessed with psychometric analysis comparing student performance over four years. RESULTS: The P3 ASAP Exam showed content validity through representation of didactic courses and professional outcomes. Similar scores on the P3 ASAP Exam and PCOA with Pearson correlation coefficient established criterion validity. Consistent student performance using Kuder-Richardson coefficient (KR-20) since 2012 reflected reliability of the examination. CONCLUSION: Pharmacy schools can implement internally developed, high-stakes, cumulative progression examinations that are valid and reliable using a robust writing-reviewing process and psychometric analyses.