Evaluation of five full-text drug databases by pharmacy students, faculty, and librarians: do the groups agree?
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OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to assess the usefulness of five full-text drug databases as evaluated by medical librarians, pharmacy faculty, and pharmacy students at an academic health center. Study findings and recommendations are offered as guidance to librarians responsible for purchasing decisions. METHODS: Four pharmacy students, four pharmacy faculty members, and four medical librarians answered ten drug information questions using the databases AHFS Drug Information (STAT!Ref); DRUGDEX (Micromedex); eFacts (Drug Facts and Comparisons); Lexi-Drugs Online (Lexi-Comp); and the PDR Electronic Library (Micromedex). Participants noted whether each database contained answers to the questions and evaluated each database on ease of navigation, screen readability, overall satisfaction, and product recommendation. RESULTS: While each study group found that DRUGDEX provided the most direct answers to the ten questions, faculty members gave Lexi-Drugs the highest overall rating. Students favored eFacts. The faculty and students found the PDR least useful. Librarians ranked DRUGDEX the highest and AHFS the lowest. The comments of pharmacy faculty and students show that these groups preferred concise, easy-to-use sources; librarians focused on the comprehensiveness, layout, and supporting references of the databases. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the importance of consulting with primary clientele before purchasing databases. Although there are many online drug databases to consider, present findings offer strong support for eFacts, Lexi-Drugs, and DRUGDEX. (+info)
A comparison of health professions student attitudes regarding tobacco curricula and interventionist roles.
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Health care providers who feel prepared are more apt to assume tobacco interventionist roles; therefore, educational preparation is critical. A nonprobability sample of health professions students at an urban academic health center were asked to respond to a twenty-two-item survey eliciting demographic, behavioral, and tobacco-related attitudinal information. Frequency distributions were assessed with Pearson chi-square statistics. The overall response rate was 76.7 percent, and final sample size was 319. Current use of spit tobacco (ST) was 2.5 percent and current smoking 5.6 percent. In comparing current smokers to nonsmokers and current ST users to nonusers, we found that no differences in proportion agreeing with any of the five questions about attitudes and opinions were statistically significant at p-value 0.05. At least 70 percent of students from each of six health professions programs agreed it was their professional responsibility to help smokers quit, and at least 65 percent agreed to the same responsibility for helping ST users quit. The proportion agreeing that their programs had course content describing their role in helping patients quit tobacco use varied widely by program from 100 percent agreement among dental hygiene and pharmacy students to 14.6 percent of physical therapy students (p-value <0.001). When asked whether their program adequately prepared them to help smokers quit, agreement ranged from 100 percent among dental hygiene students to only 5.5 percent among physical therapy students (p-value <0.001). Almost 90 percent of dental hygiene students agreed that they were adequately trained to help ST users quit, but no other program had a percentage of agreement above 34 percent (p-value <0.001). Consistent and comprehensive multidisciplinary tobacco-related curricula could offer desirable standardization. (+info)
Content of home pharmacies and self-medication practices in households of pharmacy and medical students in Zagreb, Croatia: findings in 2001 with a reference to 1977.
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AIM: To evaluate the content of household drug supplies and self-medication practice among medical and pharmacy students at Zagreb University in 2001, and to relate the findings to a previous survey in 1977. METHODS: A cross-sectional anonymous questionnaire-based survey included 287 students who inventoried drug supplies in their family households and interviewed the household members on drug keeping and self-medication practice. An identical methodology was used in 1977 (n=225). RESULTS: In 2001, healthcare professionals were present in 37% of the surveyed households (33% in 1977). At least one drug was found in every household. Drugs were kept at a designated place ("home pharmacy") in 68% of the households (65% in 1977). Drugs past expiry dates and/or with purpose unknown to the household members were reported in 27% of the households (32% in 1977). The most frequently found drugs were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that were present in 97% of the households (93% in 1977), and were followed by antibiotics found in 46% of the households (40% in 1977). Self-medication of NSAIDs was practiced in 88% of the households in which they were found (95% in 1977), whereas self-medication of antibiotics was practiced in 37% of the households in which they were found (41% in 1977). CONCLUSION: Accumulation of drugs was common in the surveyed households. Self-medication of over-the-counter drugs was a routine practice, and self-medication of prescription drugs was practiced in many households. No major difference in this respect was found between the 2001 and 1977 surveys. (+info)
Survey of the levels of satisfaction with pharmacy practice among third-year students in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido--influence of experience in voluntary training at a community pharmacy and plans after graduation.
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Pharmacy practice, which is executed in the taught of pharmaceutical sciences in Japan, has been assessed and improved student questionnaires. The levels of student satisfaction with the practice are expected to be influenced by their plans after graduation and their experience of training in pharmacies. However, there are few reports analyzing the information in the questionnaires from these viewpoints. In this report, we surveyed the levels of satisfaction of 148 third-year students in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido using questionnaires and analyzed the influence of the students' background on the levels of satisfaction with pharmacy practice. Almost half of the students had received voluntary training in hospital and/or community pharmacies. Concerning plans after graduation, 36.5%, 27.7%, and 21.6% wanted to become community pharmacists, hospital pharmacists, and graduate students, respectively. More than 70% of the students were well satisfied with all the programs of practice. The levels of satisfaction with the overall practice and prescription analysis were significantly higher among students who had experienced training in pharmacies than among those who had not. Students who planned to become hospital pharmacists were more satisfied with manners seminars, one-dose package practice, and practice in a simulated pharmacy than the students who planned to enter the other field. Such surveys are useful for finding points for improvement and the development of new curricula when the assessment of pharmacy practice takes student background into consideration. (+info)
Tobacco use and cessation counseling--global health professionals survey pilot study, 10 countries, 2005.
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Tobacco use is projected to cause nearly 450 million deaths worldwide during the next 50 years. Health professionals can have a critical role in reducing tobacco use; even brief and simple advice from health professionals can substantially increase smoking cessation rates. Therefore, one of the strategies to reduce the number of smoking-related deaths is to encourage the involvement of health professionals in tobacco-use prevention and cessation counseling. Studies have collected information from health-profession students in various countries about their tobacco use and training as cessation counselors; however, no study has collected this information cross-nationally by using a consistent survey methodology. The World Health Organization (WHO), CDC, and the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) developed the Global Health Professionals Survey (GHPS) to collect data on tobacco use and cessation counseling among health-profession students in all WHO member states. This report summarizes findings from the GHPS Pilot Study, which consisted of 16 surveys conducted in 10 countries among third-year students in four health-profession disciplines (dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy) during the first quarter of 2005. The findings indicated that current cigarette smoking among these students was higher than 20% in seven of the 10 countries surveyed. Nevertheless, 87%-99% of the students surveyed believed they should have a role in counseling patients to quit smoking; only 5%-37% of these third-year students had actually received formal training in how to conduct such counseling. Schools for health professionals, public health organizations, and education officials should work together to design and implement training in smoking-cessation counseling for all health-profession students. (+info)
Impact of end-user search training on pharmacy students: a four-year follow-up study.
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The Alfred Taubman Medical Library at the University of Michigan has offered instruction in online literature searching to third-year pharmacy students as a component of the course "Drug Information and Scientific Literature Evaluation" since 1983. In the spring of 1989, a follow-up study was conducted to assess the impact of instruction on four classes of graduates. Of a pool of 151 graduates, 90 (60%) responded to a mailed questionnaire on their use of information and computerized literature searching. The respondents were divided into four subgroups: end-user searchers, users of intermediaries, end users who used intermediaries, and those who did not use computerized literature search systems. Seventy-two percent of the respondents used some type of computerized literature searching, and 42% performed their own searches. The four subgroups differed in general computer use, familiarity with MEDLINE search terminology, information use, reasons for using or not using literature searching, and characteristics of searches (i.e., type, time frame, amount, and frequency). Training in end-user search systems appears to have had an impact on the continued use of computerized literature searching several years after the formal educational program. (+info)
Recruiting undergraduates to rural practice: what the students can tell us.
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INTRODUCTION: There are still large gaps in the evidence base for the effectiveness of Australian undergraduate rural coursework and placements programs designed to increase the numbers of health graduates choosing rural practice. This article reports on an online survey conducted in 2004 of health science students at the University of Tasmania, Australia, designed as a part of a long-term study to test coursework interventions by tracking students' attitudes to, and experience of, rural practice from course entry to eventual practice. METHOD: All first and final year students in medicine, nursing and pharmacy in the Faculty of Health Science were invited to complete an online survey exploring the undergraduate experience of rural health. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 148 first year and 87 final year students, a response rate of 32.4% and 23.1% respectively. Over one-third (38.5%) of first years and 56.3% of final years indicated a general preference for rural life and practice and almost 90% expected to spend at least some of their career in rural practice. There was a statistically significant relationship between rural practice orientation and rural origin among first years, although this relationship was weaker among final years. Of first years, 82.4%, and 82.7% of final years appear to have made at least some commitment to a particular career path, and two-thirds to a particular practice environment. Rurally oriented first year students were significantly more committed to a career path than those without that orientation, although this did not hold for final years. When asked how much of their careers they expected to spend in capital city, rural, remote and/or overseas practice, both first and final year students' responses were notable for their spread. Few ruled rural or urban practice in or out entirely with most opting for middle range responses of 'most', 'about half' or 'part' of their career. Over half of both years expected to spend some time in remote practice and 75.1% of first years and 66.6% of final years some time in overseas practice. The factors rated most important in relation to career choice were those related directly to the realities of day-to-day professional practice--professional and peer support, work conditions and variety of work. Approximately three-quarters of those entering undergraduate education felt themselves to be at least 'somewhat informed' about rural practice but, apart from medical students, were little better informed by final year. The only perception of rural practice very widely shared (by more than 80% of respondents) was the possibility of developing better patient relations. Many of the other factors frequently identified as major issues in the rural practice literature--locality, flexibility, opportunities for further study, and spouse/partner and children's needs - while recognised by some, do not appear to loom large with undergraduates either in terms of career choice or perceptions of rural practice. Most final year students recalled receiving specific rural health training through rural placements and/or rural curriculum content. Overall recall of coursework was patchy, although placements were well-remembered and there was good support for increases in both. None of those who recalled undertaking rural coursework felt that it had influenced them towards a rural career and over two-thirds (n = 37, 69.8%) felt that this exposure had actually influenced them away from such a career. Three students reported that undertaking a rural placement influenced them towards, and 35 away from, a rural/remote career. CONCLUSION: The ultimate measure of the success of undergraduate interventions will be workforce changes over time. In the meantime more research is needed into undergraduate experience of rural health to provide the data needed for the careful design of coursework, detailed planning of the placement experience and long-term strategies to address those aspects of rural practice that are of most concern to these emerging health professionals. (+info)
Tobacco sales in pharmacies: time to quit.
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OBJECTIVE: To assess the pharmacy profession's perceptions of tobacco sales in US pharmacies and explore whether a policy prohibiting sales of tobacco in pharmacies would alter adult consumer shopping behaviour. SUBJECTS AND DESIGN: In California, surveys were administered to 1168 licensed pharmacists and 1518 pharmacy students, and telephone interviews were conducted with 988 adult consumers. RESULTS: Most (58.1%) licensed pharmacists were strongly against sales of tobacco in pharmacies, 23.6% were against it, 16.7% were neutral, 1.2% were in favour of it, and 0.4% were strongly in favour of it. Pharmacists who were current tobacco users were more likely to be in favour of tobacco sales in pharmacies than were pharmacists who were current non-users (p < 0.005). Similar statistics were observed for pharmacy students. Most consumers (72.3%) disagreed with the statement, "I am in favour of tobacco products being sold in drugstores"; 82.6% stated that if the drugstore where they most commonly shopped were to stop selling tobacco products, they would shop there just as often, 14.2% would shop there more often, and 3.2% would shop there less often. CONCLUSION: Little professional or public support exists for tobacco sales in pharmacies. (+info)