Jurisprudent pharmacy as a new pharmacy--feedback from litigation to pharmacy

Risk management in the medical field is said to be entering into the third generation. By definition, the first generation covers the period until some 10 years ago when medical errors themselves used to be regarded as inconceivable and therefore as something of a taboo. The second generation is a period in which those concerned with medical treatment grappled squarely with this issue of medical errors and compiled manuals of "near miss" cases in an effort to prevent errors. After that, such an idea has come into existence that even the deepest carefulness threatens errors that could develop into the disputes among those involved. The thought of this kind has resulted in the deepening of understanding of the importance of risk management. As a result, the point of view on this issue has been getting broader to cover not only prevention of errors but also prevention of disputes. This type is called third-generation risk management. In this sense jurisprudent pharmacy or legal pharmacy, which is a kind of pharmacy that constitutes medical pharmacy, is aimed at feeding back the lessons learned from litigations to pharmacy to improve and develop it as a practical science and contributing to the realization of "patient-centered medical science."     

The pharmacy college as a pharmacy service "corporation".

A program of providing contract pharmaceutical services to health care facilities by a college of pharmacy is described. Services are provided to ten facilities: five hospitals, three mental health centers, a free-standing cancer clinic and a primary care center. The initial development of the concept, the lines of authority between the college and the facilities, the nature of the contractual agreements, and the benefits of the program are discussed. Among the benefits are the development of advanced drug distribution systems and clinical services, secure positions for clinical faculty members, the availability of the college's resources to the health care facilities, training and employment opportunities for students, and the good will created by improved health services.     

Long-term care pharmacy services: a new dimension of pharmacy practice

Pharmacists providing care to patients must have a commitment to quality patient care, have well-developed operations systems, possess refined clinical skills, and be able to effect excellent communication with the clinical and administrative staff. These attributes of pharmacy practice should exist in both the acute care and long-term care settings. Pharmacy practice in the long-term care setting, a unique position due to the everchanging definition of long-term care, may best be referred to as an alternative site for the application of contemporary pharmacy distribution and clinical systems for patient care over an extended period.     

Influences on pharmacy students' decision to pursue a doctor of pharmacy degree

Objectives

To determine what influenced pharmacy students to pursue a career in pharmacy and how those influences varied among different racial groups.

Methods

A 30-question survey instrument was developed and administered to doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students at the University of Georgia and Florida A&M University. Data were analyzed to identify differences between students at different institutions and of different racial groups.

Results

Most students were encouraged by someone to pursue pharmacy. Students cited encouragement by family members, pharmacists, and students as important influences. Work and volunteer experiences were also important influences. Few students were influenced by “career day” events.

Conclusions

Influences for pursuing a degree in pharmacy were remarkably similar across student groups. Public awareness campaigns that emphasize the benefits of the profession and programs that are designed to bring students into contact with the profession may be effective recruiting methods/strategies.     

Impact of a debate on pharmacy students' views of online pharmacy practice

Objectives To evaluate the impact of a debate on pharmacy students' perceptions, using online pharmacy practice as the debate topic. Methods This is a quasi‐experimental interrupted time‐series study. A 60 min debate was organized as a lunchtime meeting. A four‐category Likert scale questionnaire (fully agree, partially agree, partially disagree, fully disagree) measured the debate participants' level of agreement with 25 statements (main issues associated with online pharmacy) in the pre‐phase (before the debate), post‐phase 1 (after the debate) and post‐phase 2 (6 months after the debate). One hundred and seventy‐seven students were recruited (response rate of 100% in the pre‐phase and post‐phase 1, 31% in post‐phase 2). Four questions measured the perceptions of the students on this pedagogical technique. Key findings The overall proportion of respondents in favour of online pharmacy practice showed little variation among the three phases. However, on average (mean ± SD) 43 ± 8% of the respondents changed their opinion, 21 ± 7% reversed their opinion, 22 ± 4% nuanced their opinion and 1 ± 1% radically changed their opinion. Respectively 98% (post‐phase 1) and 96% (post‐phase 2) of the respondents were of the opinion that debate was a very useful teaching formula in their pharmacist training and 79 and 66% thought debate significantly changed their opinion of the issue. Conclusions Few data have been collected on the use of debates as part of healthcare professional training. The impact of a debate on how pharmacy students feel about online pharmacy practice is described.