Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2018 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 6 Articles
For patients with diabetes, suboptimal medication adherence contributes to disease\nprogression, complications, and increased healthcare costs. Identification of, and intervention\nfor patient-identified reasons for nonadherence are essential to improving medication adherence.\nThis prospective, quality improvement study was conducted at an independent community pharmacy\nin the Mid-West United States. Patients with a proportion of days covered (PDC) for their oral\nantidiabetic medications of less than 80% were contacted by telephone and interviewed by a\nclinical pharmacist. The interviews and corresponding adherence interventions were guided by an\nabbreviated version of the Drug AdherenceWork-Up (DRAW�©) tool that focused on oral medications\nfor diabetes. The change in PDC 120-days post-interview was assessed to determine the change in\nadherence rates. Patients receiving the pharmacist-delivered adherence intervention had significantly\nhigher 120 day PDC values which are likely to indicate more regular medication-taking at home.\nAlmost half of study patients signed up for medication synchronization and these patients trended\ntoward higher PDC values, although the relative difference was not statistically significant from those\nreceiving the intervention and not opting to have their medications synchronized....
Objectives & Background: Good curriculum is reflected as the backbone for standard\nuniversities to develop competitive professionals having great potential. Pharmacy education in\nPakistan has gone through the same developmental stages as in other countries, but is still striving for\nimprovement. In the present study, we want (i) to know the opinion on whether the current pharmacy\ncurriculum requires any improvement in order to meet the training needs of pharmacy professionals\nregarding clinical knowledge and pharmacy practice; and (ii) to present some humble suggestions to\ndecision-making authorities in order to improve it with respect to patient-focused programs (PFP).\nMethods: The study was conducted in two sessions. In first session, a questionnaire was distributed\nto pharmacy students of eight public/private sector universities of Karachi (N = 354) offering Pharm.\nD degrees. The second session dealt with the pharmacy teachers, deans, and practicing pharmacists\nin health care facilities (who are in any ways also related to academia), in order to take their opinions\non and suggestions for the development of a better Pharm. D curriculum (N = 135). Results: Our\nresults showed that 75.2% of respondents agree that the Pharm. D curriculum does not meet the\ninternational standards of practice, and 88.4% of respondents support the addition of more clinical\naspects than industrial ones, as Pharm. D could be both clinically and industrially oriented, according\nto the needs of the Pakistani people. Furthermore, 80.2% of respondents are of the view that an\napprenticeship should be included in last two years, while 88.4% demand a ââ?¬Ë?paid residency programââ?¬â?¢\nto facilitate the hospital, clinical and compounding areas of pharmacy. In addition, we also received\na number of verbal suggestions for improving the Pharm. D curriculum being followed in Pakistan.\nDiscussion & Conclusions: We conclude that our Pharm. D curriculum needs additions in terms\nof clinical practice by providing residencies and electives in health care settings. Accordingly, the\nneed for a clinically oriented curriculum is highlighted in Pakistan, keeping in mind the continuing\nimportance of the industrial viewpoint. Various studies have criticized the pharmacy curriculum in\nPakistan in the past. Conversely, we suggest some changes in the curriculum, as change is always\nneeded for a better tomorrow....
Polish pharmacy practice and the distribution of medicinal products in some European\ncountries are still going through a significant transformation. Changes postulated by the pharmacists\nshould strengthen their role, and the place of community pharmacies in the health care system\nin the context ofââ?¬â?among othersââ?¬â?the introduction and popularization of pharmaceutical care.\nSubsequently, these efforts may essentially ensure the professional independence of the pharmacists.\nThe introduction of pharmaceutical care to the pharmacy practice in all European countries will help\nto improve the quality of patient care and treatment outcomes, and will lead to a better allocation of\navailable resources. Herewith, we present an important voice in the international debate, showing\nthe current changes in the pharmacy practice in Poland, a European Union (EU)-member from 2004.\nIndeed, this paper presents the perspective of the country in which the position of pharmaceutical\ncare is not well-established, and the role of the pharmacist is still limited to dispensing medicinal\nproducts, more than decade after it joined EU....
The PHARMINE (ââ?¬Å?Pharmacy Education in Europeââ?¬Â) project studied the organisation\nof pharmacy education, practice and legislation in the European Union (EU) with the objectives of\nevaluating to what degree harmonisation had taken place with the EU, and producing documents\non each individual EU member state. Part of this work was in the form of a survey of pharmacy\neducation, practice, and legislation in the various member states. We will publish the individual\nmember state surveys as reference documents. This paper presents the results of the PHARMINE\nsurvey on pharmacy education, training, and practice in the Czech Republic. Czech community\npharmacies sell and provide advice on Rx and Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines; they also provide\ndiagnostic services (e.g., blood pressure measurement). Pharmacists (lÃ?©kÃ?¡rnÃ?Âk in Czech) study for five\nyears and graduate with a Magister (Mgr., equivalent to M.Pharm.) degree. The Mgr. diploma is the\nonly requirement for registration as a pharmacist. Pharmacists can own and manage community\npharmacies, or work as responsible pharmacists in pharmacies. All practising pharmacists must\nbe registered with the Czech Chamber of Pharmacists. The ownership of a community pharmacy\nis not restricted to members of the pharmacy profession; the majority of pharmacies are organised\ninto various pharmacy chains. There are two universities providing higher education in pharmacy\nin the Czech Republic: the Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove, Charles University, which was\nestablished in 1969, and the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical\nSciences in Brno, which was established in 1991. The pharmacy curriculum is organized as a seamless,\nfully integrated, five-year master degree course. There is a six-month traineeship supervised by\nthe university, which usually takes place during the fifth year. Thus, the pharmacy curriculum is\norganised in accordance with the EU directive on sectoral professions that lays down the imperatives\nfor pharmacy education, training, and practice in the various member states of the EU. Currently,\nno specialisation courses are available at the university level. Specialisation is organised in the\nform of postgraduate, continuing professional development by the Czech Chamber of Pharmacists,\nand delivered by the Institute of Postgraduate Education for Health Professions....
Background. Health promotion is now becoming an integral part of community pharmacy practice worldwide. Objectives. This\nstudy was intended to determine the level of involvement of community pharmacists in providing health promotion service and\nto identify the barriers to the practice. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 48 community pharmacists working\nin Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. Data on sociodemographic factors, practice, and barriers to health promotion service were\ncollected and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results.The majority of respondents were B.Pharm holders (...
In response to the shortage of pharmacists in Northern Sweden, a web-based Bachelor of\nScience in Pharmacy program was established at Ume�¥ University in 2003. In 2009, the Swedish\npharmacy market was re-regulated from a state monopoly to an open market, but it is unknown\nwhat impact this has had on education satisfaction. The objectives of this study were to examine\nthe level of satisfaction among graduates from a web-based pharmacy program and to describe\nwhat subjects and skills students would have liked more or less of in their education. A secondary\nobjective was to compare the level of satisfaction before and after the Swedish pharmacy market was\nre-regulated. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2015 with all alumni who had graduated\nfrom the pharmacy program between 2006 and 2014 (n = 511), and responses to questions about\ngraduatesâ�� satisfaction with the program were analyzed (n = 200). Most graduates (88%) agreed or\nstrongly agreed that the knowledge and skills acquired during their education were useful in their\ncurrent job. The graduates stated that they would have wanted more applied pharmacy practice\nand self-care counselling, and fewer social pharmacy and histology courses. Further, 82% stated that\nthey would start the same degree program if they were to choose again today, and 92% agreed or\nstrongly agreed that they would recommend the program to a prospective student. Graduates were\nmore likely to recommend the program after the re-regulation (p = 0.007). In conclusion, pharmacy\ngraduates were very satisfied with their education, and no negative effects of the re-regulation could\nbe observed on program satisfaction....
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