A Qualitative Approach to Investigating Developmental Opportunities Among Leaders and Followers

Objective. To understand and identify developmental opportunities by exploring students' evolving views of leadership, including the emergence of leadership and self-identification, among students considered to be leaders and those considered to be followers.Methods. An exploratory qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted, investigating developmental differences among leaders and followers. Fourteen students/residents were selected to participate in interviews. Student responses were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis.Results. In discissions, four themes surfaced: motivations for exploring and engaging in leadership, perceptions of ideal leaders and followers, the value of coalition building, and a leader's role in sustainability. Leader respondents indicated that a potential barrier to helping others develop was their difficulty in delegation. Further, stress on leaders may contribute to a self-serving perspective on their responsibilities to help others develop.Conclusion. In comparison to their leader counterparts, followers may require a more individualized approach to their development and may become more deeply attached to their responsibilities, giving them a greater desire to promote sustainability in an organization or endeavor. Schools of pharmacy should be poised to support faculty, advisors, mentors, and student leaders with the tools to identify and develop active followers who may not seek out traditional leadership experiences.

Blend your passion with your craft: Artisanal habits in academic writing

INTRODUCTION

The artisanal dimension of writing, as highlighted in Helen Sword's BASE model, is explored in the context of pharmacy education. Positing that "technical" and "artisanal" are adjectives on a continuum, this viewpoint suggests that pharmacy academicians may be writers embodying a blend of both.

COMMENTARY

Perspectives and pearls from a variety of Mississippi artists and artisans are suggested as ways for academics to embrace artisanal habits as they apply creativity to their scientific writing.

IMPLICATIONS

If authors have employed artisanal habits, it is likely that the readers will ultimately come away with an appreciation for the care that the writer took, and the initiative implicit in the writing to share with others-regardless of whether readers find the content itself to be in line with or counter to their expectations and assumptions.

Influence of the Fear of Missing Out in Student Pharmacists' Decision to Pursue Residency Training

Objective. To examine the influence of the fear of missing out (FOMO) on student pharmacists' postgraduate career decisions, specifically on whether to pursue a residency. Methods. A 14-item FOMO scale was designed to examine the influence of this factor on student pharmacists' residency decision. A survey was distributed to second-, third-, and fourth-year student pharmacists at four participating universities. Average FOMO scores were compared based on residency intentions. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict residency intentions based on students' average FOMO scores. Results. The survey response rate was 74%. Of the 833 respondents, 42% indicated an intention to pursue residency training. Students indicated the FOMO items were "slightly" true of them, as evidenced by the overall FOMO mean score of 2.0 on a 5-point scale. Comparison among classes revealed a higher mean FOMO score among students in the second year of the pharmacy curriculum than among students in the third and fourth years. Logistic regression analysis indicated that FOMO score can reliably distinguish between students with residency intentions and those without. Conclusion. This study supports the existence of FOMO in the decision to pursue a pharmacy residency, although more research and scale refinement is needed to better identify its impact.

Health literacy in the pharmacy setting: defining pharmacotherapy literacy

OBJECTIVE

All currently available definitions of health literacy may be considered quite general. Given the complex nature of the patient-pharmacy encounter and the varying tasks required to properly and successfully consume or administer medication or to adhere to a pharmaceutical care regimen, these available definitions may describe inadequately a patient's health literacy for the purpose of pharmacotherapy and pharmacist intervention. Therefore, the objective of this research was to conceptualize the Pharmacotherapy Literacy construct.

METHODS

Licensed pharmacists (n=2,368) were mailed a questionnaire providing them with the Healthy People 2010 definition of health literacy and asked, "Given this definition, how would you define Pharmacotherapy Literacy?" A total of 420 usable surveys were returned of which 176 (42%) included responses to the open-ended question concerning pharmacotherapy literacy. Responses were reviewed independently and collectively by the authors. Common themes were identified, compared and discussed until consensus was reached. An initial definition was formulated and distributed to six doctoral-trained academicians and practicing pharmacists who were asked to offer their opinions of the definition as well as suggestions for its improvement. The definition was modified and subjected to further review from 15 additional doctoral-trained academicians and practicing pharmacists who provided feedback concerning its improvement.

RESULTS

BASED ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS RECEIVED FROM THE ACADEMICIANS AND PHARMACISTS, THE FOLLOWING, FINAL DEFINITION WAS FORMULATED BY THE AUTHORS: Pharmacotherapy Literacy - An individual's capacity to obtain, evaluate, calculate, and comprehend basic information about pharmacotherapy and pharmacy related services necessary to make appropriate medication-related decisions, regardless of the mode of content delivery (e.g. written, oral, visual images and symbols).

CONCLUSIONS

As the ever-changing pharmacy environment continues to advance and become more complex in nature, a definition of health literacy specific to the pharmacy setting - thereby providing a name and a focus - may improve medication consumption, medication safety, and the patient-pharmacist relationship.

Instrument to measure psychological contract violation in pharmacy students

OBJECTIVES

To adapt and evaluate an instrument that measures perceived psychological contract violations in pharmacy students by schools and colleges of pharmacy.

DESIGN

A psychological contract violations measure was developed from existing literature and the 1997 ACPE Guidelines and pilot-tested with second-year pharmacy students at 2 schools of pharmacy. A revised measure then was administered to second-year pharmacy students at 6 schools of pharmacy. Using a 5-point Likert-type scale, participants were asked to indicate the level of obligations they received compared to what was promised by the school of pharmacy.

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analysis on the psychological contract violations measure was conducted using principal components analysis resulting in 7 factors, which led to a revised measure with 26 items. Using a sample of 339 students, the proposed 7-factor measurement model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. In general, the results supported the hypothesized model. The final 23-item scale demonstrated both reliability and validity. Some students perceived certain aspects of the psychological contract that exists with their school of pharmacy were being violated.

CONCLUSION

The psychological contract violations measure may serve as a valuable tool in helping to identify areas where their students believe that schools/colleges of pharmacy have not fulfilled promised obligations.

"Blogging" about course concepts: using technology for reflective journaling in a communications class

OBJECTIVE

Web log technology was applied to a reflective journaling exercise in a communication course during the second-professional year at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, to encourage students to reflect on course concepts and apply them to the environment outside the classroom, and to assess their communication performance.

DESIGN

Two Web log entries per week were required for full credit. Web logs were evaluated at three points during the term. At the end of the course, students evaluated the assignment using a 2-page survey instrument.

ASSESSMENT

The assignment contributed to student learning and increased awareness level for approximately 40% of the class. Students had few complaints about the logistics of the assignment.

CONCLUSION

The Web log technology was a useful tool for reflective journaling in this communications course. Future versions of the assignment will benefit from student feedback from this initial experience.

Patient Evaluations of Pharmacist Performance with Variations in Attire and Communication Levels

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the attire of a pharmacist has any effect on how he is evaluated when a patient also considers the pharmacist's performance and to assess whether attire and performance interact to influence patients' evaluations.

DESIGN

Randomized, cross-sectional, three-factor design.

SETTING

Community pharmacy settings were portrayed.

PARTICIPANTS

179 university staff members.

INTERVENTIONS

Videos of pharmacist-patient interactions were encoded and placed on a Web site to be viewed by participants.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Service encounter satisfaction, perceptions of overall service quality, trust in the service provider, and behavioral intentions based on two levels of pharmacist communication performance (high or adequate), three levels of dress style (casual, business casual, formal), and two levels of white coat (wearing or not).

RESULTS

Of the three independent variables, only communication performance was found to significantly influence the dependent variables. High communication performance resulted in higher satisfaction scores, higher perceptions of quality, higher levels of trust, and behavioral intention scores that reflected a greater willingness to use and recommend the pharmacist.

CONCLUSION

Style of dress or whether the pharmacist was wearing a white coat did not significantly influence participants' evaluations of the pharmacist in this study. Rather, the level of the pharmacist's communication performance was the most important cue used by participants in their ratings of service encounter satisfaction, perceptions of overall service quality, and trust in the service provider.

Pharmacy and herbal medicine in the US

Herbal medicine is increasing in popularity in the United States. The market continues to grow, with a presence being established for commercially-prepared herbal products in community pharmacies throughout the nation. This survey was conducted to describe that presence in pharmacies and to describe pharmacists' perceptions of this product class. A response rate of 26.3% (n = 512) was achieved for a five-page mail survey sent to a geographically stratified random sample of community pharmacies in the United States. Approximately 73% of pharmacists responding indicated that their pharmacy carried commercially-prepared herbal products. Attitudinal items were included to measure pharmacists' perceptions toward these products, as those perceptions have the potential to influence attitudes and subsequently behavior (such as clinical involvement with patients wishing to integrate herbal products into an existing regimen). Pharmacists, on average, did not believe that herbal products are well standardized, or that the products are well accepted by the Food and Drug Administration or the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Much potential exists for pharmacists to fill a role as information provider to patients who self-medicate with herbal medicines; must their perceptions of the product class be changed first?