Just Say Know to Drugs! A High School Pharmacology Enrichment Program for a Rural Population.

CONTEXT: Just Say Know to Drugs! is a summer pharmacology enrichment program for high school students. First-year osteopathic medical students serve as teachers, introducing students to pharmacology while acquiring teaching skills. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of a pharmacology program on high school students and to understand the effects of teaching this program on first-year osteopathic medical students. METHODS: The influence of a pharmacology STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) enrichment program on high school students' career interests and student teacher preparedness was determined by a pre- and posttest, as well as a postprogram survey. RESULTS: Data from all 37 participating high school students and 10 of 16 student teachers (medical students and undergraduate assistants) were evaluated in the study. Survey findings suggested that this STEM program increased student awareness and knowledge of pharmacology, osteopathic medicine, and scientific research. Furthermore, student teachers thought that they developed the necessary skills to communicate and educate populations with diverse science backgrounds and comprehension levels. The immersion of high school students in the scientific content significantly increased student awareness of pharmacology (paired t test, P<.0001). CONCLUSION: The Just Say Know to Drugs! program delivered benefits for both high school students and student teachers.

Varicella Zoster aseptic meningitis: Report of an atypical case in an immunocompetent patient treated with oral valacyclovir.

Varicella Zoster when described has the typical presentation of a dermatomal distribution of a rash and can further lead to CNS complications. This can be treated accordingly with the proper protocol, but if the presentation is atypical and the protocol is challenged or changed per specific patient outcomes, new developments can occur. Here we present a case of a 29-year-old Caucasian female that presented to the emergency department with headache, photophobia, and chills for 5 days. She was previously healthy and immunocompetent; CSF PCR analysis revealed a VZV infection causing acute aseptic meningitis with no shingles rash eruption on physical examination. The patient was not willing to stay hospitalized for the duration of the treatment. This gave us an opportunity to treat her with an oral, rather than IV, antiviral. The patient was successfully treated with oral valacyclovir 2 g Q6H after only receiving two days of IV acyclovir. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a patient with VZV-associated meningitis successfully treated with oral valacyclovir.