Evaluation of a Well-being Promotion (WelPro) Program on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) Student Burnout.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the Well-being Promotion (WelPro) program and its effect on burnout in Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) students at the University of California, San Francisco. METHODS: A longitudinal cohort study evaluating the WelPro program was conducted in the class of 2021 (Transformation, a 3-year all-year-round curriculum, and Pathway (P), a 4-year traditional curriculum) APPE students. The primary and secondary aims were to evaluate changes in emotional exhaustion (EE) scores from the beginning of year (BOY) to end of year (EOY) for the class of 2021 students and compare EOY EE scores between the classes of 2021 (P) and 2020 (P) students using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSS [MP]) survey. Independent and paired t tests were used to evaluate EE scores; Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney rank sum test were used to evaluate ordinal data. RESULTS: Evaluable survey response rates were 69.6% BOY and 57.7% EOY for the class of 2021 students and 78.7% EOY for the class of 2020 (P) students. No differences in EE scores were observed for the matched class of 2021 from BOY to EOY and between classes of 2021 (P) and 2020 (P) students. CONCLUSION: WelPro did not change EE scores for class of 2021 APPE students. Given multiple confounding factors in the study, additional studies are warranted to determine the effectiveness of such a program on APPE student burnout.

Well-being Content Inclusion in Pharmacy Education Across the United States and Canada.

Objective. To describe the landscape of well-being content inclusion across schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States and Canada through identification of content implementation, incorporation, and assessment.Methods. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to all accredited schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States (n=143) and Canada (n=10). Survey questions included curricular and cocurricular timing, frequency, assessment strategies, and support for well-being initiatives, using a framework of eight dimensions (pillars) of wellness to categorize content.Results. Descriptive data analyses were applied to 99 completed surveys (65%), 89 (62%) in the United States and 10 (100%) in Canada. Well-being content was most prevalent within the cocurricular realm and incorporated into didactic and elective more than experiential curricula. The most content came from intellectual, emotional, and physical pillars, and the least content came from financial, spiritual, and environmental pillars. Less than 50% of schools and colleges of pharmacy include well-being within their strategic plans or core values. Funding is primarily at the level of the university (59%) or the school or college of pharmacy (59%). Almost half of respondents reported inclusion of some assessment, with a need for more training, expertise, and standardization.Conclusion. Survey results revealed a wide range of implementation and assessment of well-being programs across the United States and Canada. These results provide a reference point for the state of well-being programs that can serve as a call to action and research across the Academy.

Impact of a Well-being Promotion Training Program on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Conference Leaders.

Objective. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the attitudes and self-efficacy of advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) conference leaders after completing the Well-being Promotion (WelPro) training program developed at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy.Methods. The WelPro training program was developed to equip participants with the knowledge and tools to assist APPE students in distress and promote student wellness. After completing the WelPro training program, a 20-item survey was administered to 10 conference leaders via a web-based survey tool to assess their attitudes about burnout and self-efficacy in assisting students in distress. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize attitudes and self-efficacy.Results. Ten conference leaders participated in the training program. Of these, nine reported experiencing burnout in their careers, and all believed burnout within the pharmacy profession could be avoided. After the WelPro training program, confidence levels of the conference leaders significantly improved in the following areas: identification of students in distress, identification of resources for students, and recognition of when and how to refer students in distress.Conclusion. Increased self-efficacy of conference leaders to identify and assist students in distress could be translated into their improved ability to support students' overall well-being. The WelPro training program can serve as a model for similar wellness training programs that directors and preceptors in experiential education can implement at their institutions.

Medical management of variceal hemorrhage.

Gastroesophageal variceal hemorrhage is a major complication of portal hypertension in 50% to 60% of patients with liver cirrhosis and is a frequent cause of mortality in these patients. The prevalence of variceal hemorrhage is approximately 5% to 15% yearly, and early variceal rebleeding has a rate of occurrence of 30% to 40% within the first 6 weeks. More than 50% of patients who survive after the first bleeding episode will experience recurrent bleeding within 1 year. Management of gastroesophageal varices should include prevention of initial and recurrent bleeding episodes and control of active hemorrhage. Therapies used in the management of gastroesophageal variceal hemorrhage may include pharmacologic therapy (vasoactive agents, nonselective b-blockers, and antibiotic prophylaxis), endoscopic therapy, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, and shunt surgery. This article focuses primarily on pharmacologic management of acute variceal hemorrhage.

Potential influence of antisecretory therapy on the development of Candida-associated intraabdominal infection.

BACKGROUND: Concerns surrounding the potential extra gut complication of gastric acid suppression are becoming increasingly realized. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether chronic antisecretory treatment with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or histamine(2)-receptor antagonist (H(2)RA) is associated with the presence of Candida spp. in cases of complicated intraabdominal infection. METHODS: We conducted a case-controlled study of adult surgical intensive care unit patients with complicated intraabdominal infection during a 5-year period. Exclusion criteria consisted of primary peritonitis, diagnosis of intraabdominal infection more than 72 hours before hospital admission, or a stay in the intensive care unit of less than 72 hours. Patients were categorized into either the antisecretory group (H(2)RA or PPI therapy prior to admission) or control group (no prior antisecretory therapy). RESULTS: One hundred eighteen patients met inclusion criteria. Chronic antisecretory (n = 41) and control (n = 77) patients were similar except in median age (69.0 vs 59.0 y; p = 0.026) and preadmission antibiotic use (36.6% vs 15.6%; p = 0.010). The 2 groups had a similar proportion of patients with Candida (30.3% vs 32.1%; p = 0.857); the cultures included C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. parapsilosis. Yeast was recovered more often in patients diagnosed with community-acquired intraabdominal infection and in patients who had used PPIs before hospital admission (p = 0.066). Additionally, Candida was cultured more often in antisecretory patients with a history of prior abdominal surgery than in control patients (91.7% vs 62.5%; p = 0.066). CONCLUSIONS: No significant difference was found in the number of patients in the antisecretory and control groups from whom peritoneal Candida was recovered. However, patients with prior abdominal surgery and those in the community with chronic PPI use may be predisposed to Candida-associated intraabdominal infections.