Need for Expansion of Pharmacy Education Globally for the Growing Field of Nanomedicine

The Role of Education in Nanomedicine as a Current Need for Academic Programs Related to the Healthcare Field: A Scoping Review

Introduction

Clinical research has recently focused on developing diagnostic and therapeutic alternatives through nanomedicine, and it has become essential for both current and coming healthcare professionals, especially medical residents, to know about it to face actual challenges in the setup of their professional practice.

Approach

This scoping review was conducted to show the relevance of nanomedicine in the formation of medical residents and to determine the educational strategies proposed worldwide for their teaching.

Results

12 records met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, including information related to the importance of teaching nanotechnology, possible educational approaches, or the best action strategies for incorporating said teaching.

Discussion

Multiple studies showed the need for students in health-related programs to be trained and instructed in topics related to nanotechnology. Still, the students' perceptions highlight how inadequate or non-existent such education in this field is. Although a few studies have proposed strategies and approaches for incorporating nanotechnology in academic programs in different areas, it is still necessary to establish educational standards so that the training of future professionals will be uniform and of high quality. The concerned educational institutions' directives must try to ensure that their in-training staff receives an updated, full, and excellency education.

Biotechnology content in pharmacy curricula: Focus on Arab Countries

INTRODUCTION

Pharmaceutical biotechnology involves using the principles of biotechnology to develop drugs. With the rapid increase in biopharmaceutical products being developed and approved for use, educating pharmacy students about biotechnological products becomes paramount. However, there is a scarcity in the literature exploring biotechnology content in pharmacy education. This paper aims to explore and discuss previously published studies on biotechnology education in pharmacy curricula and will provide a brief overview of biotechnology content offered in pharmacy schools in Arab countries.

PERSPECTIVE

The majority of pharmacy schools in the United States and Europe offer biotechnology-related content within the curriculum as part of other courses. It has also been reported that biotechnology content is taught in 22 pharmacy schools in Arab countries. In general, biotechnology content is mostly taught as part of other pharmacy courses and is often provided as compulsory content. Including pharmaceutical biotechnology concepts in pharmacy curriculum has positive impact on pharmacy students as it increases their knowledge of biotechnology and their interest in the topic.

IMPLICATION

Pharmaceutical biotechnology is an important field in which pharmacy graduates should be knowledgeable. However, there is a need to explore biotechnology content offered in pharmacy schools in other parts of the world in order to have an understanding of how different pharmacy programs prepare their students for practice. The information currently available in the literature is not enough to determine the usefulness of pharmaceutical biotechnology content currently offered to prepare pharmacists for practice. This highlights the need for further research in the area.

Insights into Healthcare Professionals' Perceptions and Attitudes toward Nanotechnological Device Application: What Is the Current Situation in Glioblastoma Research?

Nanotechnology application in cancer treatment is promising and is likely to quickly spread worldwide in the near future. To date, most scientific studies on nanomaterial development have focused on deepening the attitudes of end users and experts, leaving clinical practice implications unexplored. Neuro-oncology might be a promising field for the application of nanotechnologies, especially for malignant brain tumors with a low-survival rate such as glioblastoma (GBM). As to improving patients' quality of life and life expectancy, innovative treatments are worth being explored. Indeed, it is important to explore clinicians' intention to use experimental technologies in clinical practice. In the present study, we conducted an exploratory review of the literature about healthcare workers' knowledge and personal opinions toward nanomedicine. Our search (i) gives evidence for disagreement between self-reported and factual knowledge about nanomedicine and (ii) suggests the internet and television as main sources of information about current trends in nanomedicine applications, over scientific journals and formal education. Current models of risk assessment suggest time-saving cognitive and affective shortcuts, i.e., heuristics support both laypeople and experts in the decision-making process under uncertainty, whereas they might be a source of error. Whether the knowledge is poor, heuristics are more likely to occur and thus clinicians' opinions and perspectives toward new technologies might be biased.

Prominent bactericidal characteristics of silver-copper nanocomposites produced via pulse laser ablation

This paper reports the characterization and antibacterial performance evaluation of some spherical and stable crystalline silver (Ag)/copper (Cu) nanocomposites (Ag-CuNCs) prepared in deionized water (DIW) using pulse laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) method. The influence of various laser fluences (LFs) on the structural, morphological, optical and antibacterial properties of these NCs were determined. The UV-Vis absorbance of these NCs at 403 nm and 595 nm was gradually increased accompanied by a blue shift. XRD patterns disclosed the nucleation of highly crystalline Ag-CuNCs with their face centered cubic lattice structure. TEM images showed the existence of spherical NCs with size range of 3-20 nm and lattice fringe spacing of approximately 0.145 nm. EDX profiles of Ag-CuNCs indicated their high purity. The antibacterial effectiveness of the Ag-CuNCs was evaluated by the inhibition zone diameter (IZD) and optical density (OD600) tests against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria. The proposed NCs revealed the IZD values in the range of 22-26 mm and 20-25 mm when tested against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria, respectively. The Ag-CuNCs prepared at LF of 14.15 J/cm² revealed the best bactericidal activity. It is established that by controlling the laser fluence the bactericidal effectiveness of the Ag-CuNCs can be tuned.