Evaluation and attitude of pharmacy students towards drug information courses

Assessment of the pharmacy students' opinions and attitudes towards the drug and poison information courses at college of pharmacy, King Saud University. Self-administered questionnaire containing 12 items was distributed to 43 pharmacy students at college of pharmacy, King Saud University at Riyadh City, year 2007 about their evaluation and attitudes towards drug information courses, all respondents agreed that the drug information courses are useful and their skills in searching various drug information resources were increased after they finished the courses. The attitude and evaluation of the students for drug information courses that had been taught to them was good, but there is need for further studying this subject by exploring the opinion of graduate pharmacists in the work field

Current and new strategies in therapy of neurodegenerative disorders: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as a model

For years researchers have known that free radicals can cause cell degeneration, especially in the brain, so there is a role for the oxidative stress and free radicals in the chronic neurodegenerative disorders. Riluzole is recommended for improving the prognosis of patients suffering from the neurodegenerative disorder, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS], and it thought to be acting as nueroprotective agent by the inhibition of glutamatergic transmission in the CNS. The familial [ALS], has been mapped to chromosome 2q33 and aldehyde oxidise enzyme has been mapped also with the same gene 2q33. So it noteworthy to make a link between Riluzol and aldehyde oxidase and the possible interaction between them in the CNS, which may contribute to the neuroprotective effect of Riluzole by inhibiting ROS production or altering the balance between hydrogen peroxide [H[2]O[2]] and superoxide anion [O[2]]

survey of drug information centers in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia

To assess resources available and differences in practice among Drug and Poison Information Centers [DPIC in Riyadh-City, Saudi Arabia and to investigate the feasibility for opening communication channels to encourage sharing of information and resources. The results of this study identified the existence of duplications of services and information resources among DPICs. The majority of the respondents were actively involved in many clinical pharmacy services that were assumed by the DPICs. The access of the majority of the DPICs to more than one resource together with the acceptance of sharing informational resources by DPICs will encourage more sharing of information. One way to achieve this is through implementation of a network. This implementation could be facilitated by institution of a regional Internet connectivity. Alternatively in the mean time we suggest KACST's [King Abdulazziz City for Science and Technology] network to be used as a basis for shared access to drug information references. Similarly, the sharing of a network could reduce the delivered cost of services offered by DP improve communication and therefore the quality of hospital-based drug information services within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The survey also, uncovered inconsistencies in QA and other practices that could affect the quality of drug information services delivered. Therefore, implementation of quality assurance guidelines would certainly help to standardize and improve quality of services provided by these OPICs. Additionally, this will make pharmacists able to re evaluate the service they provide and be more capable to re-survey DPICs to detect any changes that may occur in the future. A proposed QA program to judge the Riyadh DPICs are shown in Appindex. Moreover, the use of a computerized inquiry retrieval system for documentation of the requests of DPICs is important to sustain favorable operational and fiscal decisions toward the DPJCs. Such a system can also, offers another feasible channel for sharing a valuable source of information among these DPICs. In addition, it can greatly facilitates the access to the repeated inquiries and provides data to enable statistical evaluation for purposes of quantifying workload and for periodic quality assurance review and assessment. Furthermore, involvement in an outstanding Continuing Education [CE] program sponsored by these DPICs will satisfy the vital professional need for the progress of the pharmacy practice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

drug information centers in Saudi Arabia: Activities of college-based drug and poison information center

To report the activities of a college of pharmacy based drug and poison information center [DPIC] at King Saud University and to determine the attitude of newly graduate towards the DPIC courses. Method: A total of 354 drug information requests were retrospective reviewed. Also a self-administered questionnaire containing 12 attitudinal was develop and handled to 43 new graduates enrolled in the two courses. The majority of inquires came from the pharmacists, King Saud University staff and community, respectively, while physicians and nurses inquires were the minimal. Request for information on drug therapy, drug identification and adverse effects account for majority of requests asked by the pharmacists. On the other hand drug therapies and adverse effects were the most categories requested by the community, whereas, poisoning was the common category asked by the physicians. There is an increase dependence on computerized tertiary references when responding to inquires and a decrease in the use of textbooks. With regard to the survey the response rate was 79%. All respondents agreed that the courses are useful and their skills in searching various recourses were increased since they finished the courses. Pharmacists were the largest group of professional to request information. For optimal performance in the DPIC quality assurance program is required. Future research should be continued to document the attitudes of all pharmacists enrolled in the courses. Also making the DPIC known fur all professionals will encourage physicians, dentists and nurses to utilize the facilities of the center