Gender equity perceptions among social and administrative science faculty: A qualitative evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Anecdotal evidence suggests that gender inequity persists in academic pharmacy. To date, there are limited published data about the perception of gender inequity in academic pharmacy. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project was to determine themes associated with gender inequity perceptions in social and administrative science faculty from 2 national pharmacy organizations. METHODS: A gender equity task force comprising 13 members from Social and Administrative Sciences (SAS) sections of the American Pharmacists Association and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy was formed. The task force designed a semistructured interview guide comprising questions about demographics and core areas where inequities likely exist. When the survey invitation was sent to faculty members of the SAS sections via Qualtrics, faculty indicated whether they were willing to be interviewed. Interviews were conducted by 2 members of the task force via video conferencing application. The interviews were transcribed. Topic coding involving general categorization by theme followed by refinement to delineate subcategories was used. Coding was conducted independently by 3 coders followed by consensus when discrepancies were identified. RESULTS: A total of 21 faculty participated in the interviews. Respondents were primarily female (71%), were white (90%), had Doctor of Philosophy as their terminal degree (71%), and were in nontenure track positions (57%). Most respondents (90%) experienced gender inequity. A total of 52% reported experiencing gender inequity at all ranks from graduate student to full professor. Four major themes were identified: microaggression (57%), workload (86%), respect (76%), and opportunities (38%). Workload, respect, and opportunities included multiple subthemes. CONCLUSION: Faculty respondents perceive gender inequities in multiple areas of their work. Greater inequity perceptions were present in areas of workload and respect. The task force offers multiple recommendations to address these inequities.

Reliability and Validity Evidence for an Academic Gender Equity Questionnaire.

Objective. The majority of practicing pharmacists and student pharmacists are women. However, instruments to assess perceptions of gender equity within pharmacy academia are not available. The objective of this research was to describe the psychometric analysis of a questionnaire developed to assess gender equity by a Gender Equity Task Force and to report reliability and validity evidence.Methods. A questionnaire with 21 items addressing the teaching, research, service, advancement, mentoring, recruitment, and gender of college leaders was created. The survey was distributed via email in December 2020 to all social and administrative science section members of two professional associations. Rasch analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability and validity evidence for the questionnaire.Results. After reverse coding, all items met parameters for unidimensionality necessary for Rasch analysis. Once adjacent categories were merged to create a 3-point scale, the scale and items met parameters for appropriate functionality. Items were ordered hierarchically in order of difficulty. The modified instrument and scale can be treated as interval level data for future use.Conclusion. This analysis provides reliability and validity evidence supporting use of the gender equity questionnaire in the social and administrative academic pharmacy population if recommended edits such as the 3-point scale are used. Future research on gender equity can benefit from use of a psychometrically sound questionnaire for data collection.

Gender inequity: Enough talk, time for action.

While gender inequity has been shown to be an ongoing issue in the pharmacy profession, it has moved to the forefront due to increasing numbers of women in pharmacy. Two national organizations, American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) convened a joint Gender Equity Task Force to examine this matter among social and administrative sciences pharmacy faculty. The Task Force launched a survey and conducted interviews, as well as held several forums to solicit recommendations. This commentary provides recommendations for pharmacy constituents and stakeholders regarding: training and programming, leadership and mentoring, policy, and expansion. The goal is for organizations and leadership to incorporate recommendations with the goal of closing the gap in gender inequity.

Student Stress Management and Wellness Programs among Colleges of Pharmacy.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the programmatic stress-related interventions that colleges of pharmacy are providing for their students. METHODS: A paper-based questionnaire was distributed to 80 college teams who attended two consecutive offerings of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy institute focused on promoting student well-being. The five-part questionnaire consisted of: 1) tracking and assessment of perceived student stress levels, 2) the types and formats of stress-coping interventions that are offered, 3) the measured impacts of any stress-coping interventions, 4) the level of faculty/staff training and involvement in student stress remediation, and 5) institutional demographics. RESULTS: Of the 40 college teams responding to the survey there were similar numbers of private (44%) and public (56%) institutions. More than half (57.5%) reported measuring student stress levels. The most common interventions offered were counseling (95%), academic advising (82%), physical exercise support (77%), and relationship building activities (70%). Topics offered in the curriculum were most often related to handling substance abuse (50%), time-management (45%), and finances (40%). A majority (79.5%) of schools reported they do not offer formal training on student stress and mental health to faculty and staff and do not formally assess the impact of stress and coping interventions. CONCLUSION: Colleges of pharmacy are addressing student stress and well-being, yet variability exists in terms of assessment, interventions, and didactic offerings. Multiple barriers to improvement remain and mediating barriers and determining assessments for coping and interventions may be next steps for Colleges of Pharmacy.

American Pharmacists Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Medication Error Disclosure.

BACKGROUND: Patient safety places emphasis on full disclosure, transparency, and a commitment to prevent future errors. Studies addressing the disclosure of medication errors in the profession of pharmacy are lacking. OBJECTIVE: This study examined attitudes and behaviors of American pharmacists regarding medication errors and their disclosure to patients. METHODS: A 4-page questionnaire was mailed to a nationwide random sample of 2,002 pharmacists. It included items to assess pharmacists' knowledge of and experience with medication errors and their disclosure. The data was collected over three months and analyzed using IBM SPSS 22.0. The study received IRB exempt status. RESULTS: The response rate was 12.6% (n = 252). The average pharmacist respondent was a 57-year old (+ 12.1 years), Caucasian (79.8%), male (59.9%), with a BS Pharmacy degree (73.8%), and licensed for 33 years (+ 12.8 years). Most respondents were employed in a hospital (26.4%) or community (31.0 %) setting and held staff (30.9%), manager (29.1%), or clinical staff (20.6%) positions. Respondents reported having been involved in a medication error as a patient (31.0%) or a pharmacist (95.5%). The data suggest that full disclosure is not being achieved by pharmacists. Significant differences in some attitudes and behaviors were uncovered when community pharmacists were compared to their hospital counterparts. CONCLUSION: There is room for improvement regarding proper medication error disclosure by pharmacists.

Designing a Professional Development Course Sequence to Address Standard 4 Elements Using a CPD Framework.

ACPE defines personal and professional development as an expected outcome of the Doctor of Pharmacy degree program, but there is scarce data in the literature discussing methods for systematically addressing these concepts in curricula. This paper describes the development and attributes of a four-year professional development course sequence within a college of pharmacy designed to develop students' knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors, and attitudes necessary to demonstrate self-awareness, leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship, and professionalism through their life-long career. Each course has at least one required activity addressing each of the four elements of Standard 4. The continuous professional development framework is used as a backbone to the course sequence structure, utilizing the four elements of CPD-reflect, plan, act, evaluate.

Using Patient Case Video Vignettes to Improve Students' Understanding of Cross-cultural Communication.

Objective. To develop, implement, and assess whether simulated patient case videos improve students' understanding of and attitudes toward cross-cultural communication in health care. Design. Third-year pharmacy students (N=159) in a health care communications course participated in a one-hour lecture and two-hour workshop on the topic of cross-cultural communication. Three simulated pharmacist-patient case vignettes highlighting cross-cultural communication barriers, the role of active listening, appropriate use of medical interpreters, and useful models to overcome communication barriers were viewed and discussed in groups of 20 students during the workshop. Assessment. A pre-lecture and post-workshop assessed the effect on students' understanding of and attitudes toward cross-cultural communication. Understanding of cross-cultural communication concepts increased significantly, as did comfort level with providing cross-cultural care. Conclusion. Use of simulated patient case videos in conjunction with an interactive workshop improved pharmacy students' understanding of and comfort level with cross-cultural communication skills and can be useful tools for cultural competency training in the curriculum.

Comparison of community and hospital pharmacists' attitudes and behaviors on medication error disclosure to the patient: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine pharmacists' attitudes and behaviors on medication errors and their disclosure and to compare community and hospital pharmacists on such views. METHODS: An online questionnaire was developed from previous studies on physicians' disclosure of errors. Questionnaire items included demographics, environment, personal experiences, and attitudes on medication errors and the disclosure process. An invitation to participate along with the link to the questionnaire was electronically distributed to members of two Illinois pharmacy associations. A follow-up reminder was sent 4 weeks after the original message. Data were collected for 3 months, and statistical analyses were performed with the use of IBM SPSS version 22.0. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 23.3% (n = 422). The average employed respondent was a 51-year-old white woman with a BS Pharmacy degree working in a hospital pharmacy as a clinical staff member. Regardless of practice settings, pharmacist respondents agreed that medication errors were inevitable and that a disclosure process is necessary. Respondents from community and hospital settings were further analyzed to assess any differences. Community pharmacist respondents were more likely to agree that medication errors were inevitable and that pharmacists should address the patient's emotions when disclosing an error. Community pharmacist respondents were also more likely to agree that the health care professional most closely involved with the error should disclose the error to the patient and thought that it was the pharmacists' responsibility to disclose the error. Hospital pharmacist respondents were more likely to agree that it was important to include all details in a disclosure process and more likely to disagree on putting a "positive spin" on the event. CONCLUSION: Regardless of practice setting, responding pharmacists generally agreed that errors should be disclosed to patients. There were, however, significant differences in their attitudes and behaviors depending on their particular practice setting.

A Student-Led Health Education Initiative Addressing Health Disparities in a Chinatown Community.

Together with community advocates, professional student organizations can help improve access to health care and sustain services to address the health disparities of a community in need. This paper examines the health concerns of an underserved Chinese community and introduces a student-led health education initiative that fosters service learning and student leadership. The initiative was recognized by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) and received the 2012-2013 Student Community Engaged Service Award.

Pharmacy students' perceptions of cultural competence encounters during practice experiences.

OBJECTIVE: To determine pharmacy students' perceptions regarding cultural competence training, cross-cultural experiences during advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs), and perceived comfort levels with various cultural encounters. METHODS: Fourth-year pharmacy (P4) students were asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of their fourth APPE. RESULTS: Fifty-two of 124 respondents (31.9%) reported having 1 or more cultural competence events during their APPEs, the most common of which was caring for a patient with limited English proficiency. CONCLUSION: Students reported high levels of comfort with specific types of cultural encounters (disabilities, sexuality, financial barriers, mental health), but reported to be less comfortable in other situations.

Educating Pharmacy Students to Improve Quality (EPIQ) in colleges and schools of pharmacy.

OBJECTIVE: To assess course instructors' and students' perceptions of the Educating Pharmacy Students and Pharmacists to Improve Quality (EPIQ) curriculum. METHODS: Seven colleges and schools of pharmacy that were using the EPIQ program in their curricula agreed to participate in the study. Five of the 7 collected student retrospective pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. Changes in students' perceptions were evaluated to assess their relationships with demographics and course variables. Instructors who implemented the EPIQ program at each of the 7 colleges and schools were also asked to complete a questionnaire. RESULTS: Scores on all questionnaire items indicated improvement in students' perceived knowledge of quality improvement. The university the students attended, completion of a class project, and length of coverage of material were significantly related to improvement in the students' scores. Instructors at all colleges and schools felt the EPIQ curriculum was a strong program that fulfilled the criteria for quality improvement and medication error reduction education. CONCLUSION: The EPIQ program is a viable, turnkey option for colleges and schools of pharmacy to use in teaching students about quality improvement.