Evaluating the use of informational technologies by students of healthcare colleges for academic purposes over a five-year period.

This study aimed to assess the extent to which healthcare students use five informational technologies for daily academic purposes and to examine the changes in student perceptions toward these technologies over five years. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study in 10 different colleges in seven governorates. We conducted a survey using the instruments developed from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The surveys were administered to convenience samples of students at the colleges of pharmacy, medicine, and dentistry in the participating universities. The survey was conducted three times over three different years: 2015, 2018, 2020. Five Information and Communication Technology components were included in the study: electronic course management (ECM), internet, computer, audio recording/commentary, and PowerPoint slides. The surveys were electronic and administered using Qualtrics Survey Software. For most respondents, the survey links were administered electronically via Facebook groups to convenience samples of students of the Bachelor programs. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to measure the difference among the three (years) surveys results. The multiple linear regression analysis was used to measure the associations between the five predictors of the TAM and the outcome variable (actual use of technology). There was a total of 3,113 valid surveys collected in 2015, 2018, and 2020. Nearly two thirds of participants were females. Most students did not have enough experience in using ECM before classes closure in March 2020. Lack of facilitating conditions and infrastructures like an expert technical support team and stable internet connections are negatively impacting students' acceptance of technology use in education. Moving from mainly face-to-face learning with partial electronic use in 2015 and 2018 to totally virtual learning in 2020 had a negative impact on the perceptions of healthcare college students of the five technologies across the five TAM domains (perceived usefulness, facilitating condition, ease of use, attitude toward use, intention to use) and the actual use of these technologies. The TAM successfully explained the factors influencing the actual use of technologies by healthcare college students. Continuing technical support and training can reduce students' electronic challenges. Technical status assessment needs to be done at the beginning, mid and end of the semester to evaluate the technical challenges facing students in online learning. The study tools are internationally adoptable to evaluate the student perceptions of the ICT implementation for research and academic annual assessment purposes.

Exploring Electronic Communication Modes Between Iraqi Faculty and Students of Pharmacy Schools Using the Technology Acceptance Model.

Objective. To explore for the first time the extent to which Iraqi pharmacy students and faculty use Facebook and university email for academic communications, and to examine factors influencing utilization within the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Methods. An electronic survey was administered to convenience samples of students and faculty of six Iraqi public schools and colleges of pharmacy in 2015. Results. Responses included 489 student and 128 faculty usable surveys. Both students and faculty use Facebook more than university email for academic communications. Less than a third of the faculty used university email. Students used Facebook for academic purposes twice as much as faculty. Conclusion. Absence of university email in Iraqi schools and colleges of pharmacy makes Facebook essential for faculty-student communications. The majority (71.1% to 82%) of respondents perceived that Facebook was easy to use. Three TAM variables (intention to use, attitude toward use and perceived usefulness) had significant positive associations with actual use of both Facebook messaging and university email.

Factors influencing the degree of physician-pharmacist collaboration within Iraqi public healthcare settings.

OBJECTIVES: Medication safety and effectiveness can be improved through interprofessional collaboration. The goals of this study were to measure the degree of physician-pharmacist collaboration within Iraqi governmental healthcare settings and to investigate factors influencing this collaboration. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Najaf Province using the Collaborative Working Relationship Model and Physician-Pharmacist Collaborative Instrument (PPCI). Four pharmacists distributed paper surveys with a 7-point Likert scale to a convenience sample of physicians and pharmacists working in seven public hospitals and two outpatient clinics. The questionnaire (in English) covered individual (demographics, practising years and academic affiliation), context (practice setting) and PPCI characteristics (trustworthiness, role specification and relationship initiation) in addition to collaborative care items: one for pharmacists and one for physicians. Separate multiple regressions were used to assess the association of the factors with collaborative care for physicians and for pharmacists. KEY FINDINGS: Seventy-seven physicians and 86 pharmacists returned usable surveys (81.5% response rate). The majority of physicians were male (84%), while the majority of pharmacists were female (58%). The mean age of the physicians was (37.99 years) older than that of the pharmacists (30.35 years). The physicians had a longer period of practice (11.32 years) than pharmacists (5.45 years). Most (90%) of the providers were practising in hospitals. Pharmacist academic affiliation was significantly associated with collaborative care. The pharmacist and physician regressions indicated significant (P < 0.05) associations between collaborative care and two PPCI domains (role specification and relationship initiation for physicians; role specification and trustworthiness for pharmacists). CONCLUSIONS: This study focused on physician-pharmacist collaboration within hospitals, and it was the first study measuring interprofessional collaboration in Iraq. The results showed there is physician-pharmacist collaboration within Iraqi hospitals and exchange characteristics had significant influence on this collaboration.

Antimicrobial utilization in an Iraqi province: a comprehensive evaluation of antibiotic source and cost.

PURPOSE: The aims were to calculate total systemic antibiotic consumption and cost in both public and private sectors in all care settings in Al-Najaf province, Iraq, during 2012, recognize the percentage of each pharmacological class for the dispensed antibiotics and identify oral and parenteral antibiotic percentages dispensed and the portions manufactured nationally and imported. METHODS: Cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Najaf to calculate the total cost and quantities of antibiotics consumed during 2012 using World Health Organization Guidelines for Defined Daily Dose (DDD). KEY FINDINGS: The results showed more than 21 million DDDs were dispensed in Al-Najaf in one year, and more than half (54.2%) were dispensed by governmental healthcare institutions. A thousand inhabitants in the province consumed 45.26 DDDs per day. Extended-spectrum (34.49%) and combined penicillins (26.08%) were the most frequently consumed while meropenem was the least frequently consumed (0.02%). Ninety-five per cent of the consumed antibiotics were oral dosage forms, and five per cent were parenteral dosage forms. The total cost of antibiotic consumed was more than nine million U.S dollars. CONCLUSIONS: The antibiotic consumption ratio in this province was comparable to neighbouring countries, but far higher compared to European countries. Penicillins, cephalosporins and quinolones were the most popular antibiotics. Around half of the antibiotics consumed were made by national pharmaceutical companies that mainly produce oral antibiotics. The public sector consumed a higher portion, but spent a lower amount compared to private sectors. This is the first time report of antibiotic consumption in Iraq. More studies evaluating antibiotic consumption can improve utilization.