A Longitudinal Integrative Course Series to Prepare Students for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Background: This paper describes a series of integrative courses intentionally designed to prepare students for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) in a block system curriculum. Innovation: Three integration blocks are interspersed throughout the didactic curriculum to serve as checkpoints to ensure competency as students progress in the curriculum, rather than waiting until the end to determine competency. Complex patient case discussions and a series of high-stakes assessments are used to reinforce and evaluate cumulative retention of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Findings: Class of 2022 exam results showed that in the cohort of students who failed the high-stakes comprehensive knowledge assessment (CKA) and pharmacy calculations exams during the first integration block (IB), failure rates decreased in subsequent IBs, indicating early detection of knowledge deficiencies and either exam performance improvement in each IB or failure to progress to the next IB. A survey of the same cohort indicated that the final integration block prior to advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) helped improve confidence in applying key knowledge and skills into practice. Conclusion: The series of integration blocks designed and implemented at WesternU provides opportunities to reinforce knowledge and skills while requiring students to demonstrate maintenance of core competency as they progress through the curriculum.

Learning Outcomes and Student Preferences with Flipped vs Lecture/Case Teaching Model in a Block Curriculum.

Objective. To assess the impact of using a flipped classroom instructional approach on Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students' learning outcomes and instructional preferences in a pharmacotherapy course within a block curriculum. Methods. Select topics in a gastrointestinal and liver pharmacotherapy course were taught using a flipped classroom method that required students to view lecture modules and respond to self-assessment questions prior to class. Classroom time included quizzes, application exercises, and discussion. The following year, teaching of these topics was switched back to a lecture/case format, and different topics were taught in the flipped classroom format, Student performance under each teaching method was examined, and student preferences and study habits were collected via a survey administered before and after experiencing the flipped classroom. Results. Combined mean formal assessment scores were higher for all four topics taught using the flipped classroom format compared to the lecture/case format. This pattern persisted when topics were examined individually, except for scores on one review topic. Survey responses reflected acknowledgement by about half of the students that the flipped format was more beneficial than traditional methods, but they still clearly preferred live lectures over prerecorded lectures. The majority of students reported that the amount of preparation time required for the flipped classroom was appropriate and that they had a positive or neutral experience with the flipped classroom overall. Conclusion. This study supports use of the flipped classroom method for teaching standard pharmacotherapy topics within a block curriculum, but underscores some of the resistance expressed by students despite understanding the potential benefits of the flipped format.

Efficacy and safety profile of once-weekly dulaglutide in type 2 diabetes: a report on the emerging new data.

Dulaglutide is a once-weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, which has been on the market in the USA since 2014. Dulaglutide has performed well in head-to-head studies against metformin, glargine, and sitagliptin, where its A1c lowering ranged from -0.78% to -1.64% over 52-104 weeks, and it consistently outperformed each of these agents. As an add-on therapy, dulaglutide provided additional A1c lowering of -1.4% to -1.44% over monotherapy with glimepiride or glargine at 24 and 28 weeks, respectively. Dulaglutide outperformed exenatide when added to a regimen of metformin with pioglitazone as well as glargine when added to a regimen of metformin with glimepiride. Dulaglutide was shown to be non-inferior to liraglutide when added to metformin. In all AWARD studies other than when compared to liraglutide, dulaglutide at full strength resulted in significantly more patients achieving their A1c goal. Recent class-wide meta-analyses indicate that the incidence of commonly experienced gastrointestinal (GI) side effects is dose dependent, and nausea and vomiting are less common in longer-acting agents such as dulaglutide, but diarrhea may be more common. Pooled data have shown no increased risk of serious side effects such as pancreatitis or neoplasm with the use of dulaglutide. Given the evidence supporting liraglutide's cardiovascular benefits, the highly anticipated REWIND trial will have a significant impact on the future place in the therapy of dulaglutide.

Inhaled technosphere insulin: a novel delivery system and formulation for the treatment of types 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus.

Complications from uncontrolled diabetes mellitus were reduced significantly with the introduction of insulin more than 90 years ago. Despite the proven benefits of normal glycemic levels, patients are deterred by the inconvenience and perceived pain related to multiple daily subcutaneous insulin injections. Inhaled insulin was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006, but because profit margins did not achieve expectations, the drug manufacturer discontinued sales 2 years later. The second-generation inhaled insulin, developed with Technosphere technology, received FDA approval in 2014. The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, drug interactions, clinical safety and efficacy, patient satisfaction, dosage and administration, warnings, precautions, contraindications, adverse effects, and place in therapy of inhaled Technosphere insulin are reviewed in this article.