Class of 2008 / Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence the career aspirations of first and third year pharmacy students from the University of Arizona. We hypothesized that greater than 50% of first year Doctor of Pharmacy students from UA will plan on pursuing residencies upon graduation, more first year students will prefer clinical practice when compared to third year students, and the factor that contributes most to pharmacy students going into community practice is compensation. Methods: Surveys were administered during regularly scheduled classes to first and third year students. The questions contained in the data collection form consisted of demographic information and motivating factors that were implemented into the survey in the format of the Likert scale. Results: Questionnaires were completed by 83 1st year pharmacy students and 58 3rd year students. Seventeen students (29%) from the Class of 2009 and 19 students (23%) from the Class of 2011 stated that they would like to pursue a residency. First year students felt that applying clinical knowledge was the most important factor, while the third year students considered ideal geographical location to be the most important. However, the data was not statistically significant when the two groups were compared. Conclusions: The data demonstrated that pharmacy students’ preferences do not change drastically as they progress through pharmacy school. The similarity in responses from both groups may suggest that the students have not had adequate exposure to a variety of pharmacy practice settings. Both groups of students gave similar responses on their plans to pursue a residency, therefore, it did not support our hypothesis that a majority of the first year students would focus on this career path. The data does support our hypothesis of first year students’ preference of a clinical setting when compared to third year students. Salary compensation was not ranked in the top 4 most important factors, therefore, we concluded that it is not a significant aspect for students regardless of what career setting they would pursue.

Class of 2009 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this work is to explore the correlations between demographics, knowledge, and attitudes that student pharmacists have in regards to oral emergency contraception (OEC) and their dispensing. METHODS: University of Arizona pre-rotation student pharmacists were asked to complete a questionnaire during a regularly scheduled required class. The questionnaire had three sections consisting of general OEC knowledge, specific attitudes regarding OEC, and demographic data. RESULTS: Students who stated moral and/or ethical objections to dispensing OEC had significantly lower knowledge scores. They also showed a response pattern to attitude and belief questions opposite to that of students who stated feeling comfortable dispensing OEC in most situations. There were no significant differences in total correct scores on the knowledge questions between gender or year in school, however, there were significant differences in some specific questions. CONCLUSIONS: Students who did not feel comfortable dispensing OEC or had moral and/or religious objections to dispensing OEC were found to have lower knowledge scores. With the exception of two knowledge questions, total correct scores on OEC knowledge questions increased with year in school. Lack of knowledge about OEC may in part contribute to unease and objections to dispensing them.

Class of 2009 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The use and utility of textbooks in health professional training programs is variable. Studies on these topics in medical schools have shown a wide variety of results with most showing surprisingly little textbook use and that students who purchased textbooks tend to have surprisingly low levels of use, with an increasing trend towards preferences for electronic resources. The purpose of the study was to evaluate pharmacy students’ use of course textbooks. METHODS: Second year students at the College of Pharmacy of the University of Arizona completed a survey that included what required or recommended books in the second year curriculum were purchased, how much of the text they actually read, as well as a 6 point response scale to rate each textbooks usefulness. RESULTS: Seventy-four students completed the survey near the end of the academic year. Only 30.45 percent of respondents purchased course textbooks. Purchased percentages for individual textbooks ranged from 62.3% to 0%. Student ratings for usefulness of each textbook ranged from 2.0 to 5.3 with the medicinal chemistry and drug information textbooks rated the lowest and electronic resources rated the highest. The vast majority of students who purchased the book used it them for less than one hour per week. CONCLUSIONS: Less than a third of students purchase required or recommended textbook. Time spent using the textbook was extremely low. Usefulness varied with the textbook and students expressed a strong preference for electronic resources

Class of 2007 Abstract / Objectives: The purpose of the study was to determine the factors associated with regular physical activity of students in the college of pharmacy. Methods: Pharmacy students currently enrolled and attending classes at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy were asked to fill out a questionnaire about physical activity/exercise, nutrition, and demographics. The questionnaires were passes out 10 minutes at the end/beginning of classes. Results: Students in the high exercise/physical activity group participated in exercise/physical activity for significantly greater lengths of time in one session than those in the low group (p < 0.001). Students in the high exercise/physical activity group were more likely than the low group to exercise in the morning before school or after school or work (p = 0.00469 and 0.0375 respectively). Students in the high exercise/physical activity group answered that pharmacists and other health care professionals can influence patients to a greater extent than those in the low group ( p = 0.0482). Conclusions: Students that participate in exercise/physical activity 3-4 times per week or more were more likely to do so for longer periods of time in one session and fit it into their schedule before school/work or in the afternoon/evening after school/work. It appears that these students were more likely to have a specific time for exercise and do not rely on incidental physical activity to get their exercise. Students that are regular exercisers may feel that pharmacists and other health care professionals can influence patients to a greater extent regarding exercise than those students who do not regularly exercise.

This survey is to study the attitudes, personal experiences of Health care professional students, and knowledge about the basic concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Hong Kong and Guangzhou district of Mainland China. The research methodology used was a questionnaire which was distributed amongst healthcare professional students in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. About Seventy-five percent of participants have ever used TCM at some time to treat minor diseases. On a scale from zero to ten, the mean (SD) scores for the perceived effectiveness of TCM were 6.55 (2.07), and most of them (89%) gave five to nine scores. The average proportion of TCM used in their whole lives estimate was 24%. Most of participants (83.3%) used TCM only one to five times per year in the last five years. In participants’ opinion, TCM is more natural and having less adverse effect, while WM is pure, specific, credible, easy to administer and having better patients’ compliance. WM was the priority, or even first choice when the participants faced with a variety of representative diseases. And people had a good understanding degree of some basic concepts of TCM. Although there were a few differences in gender groups comparing and district groups comparing, broadly speaking the similarities still were in majority. In conclusion, most of pharmacy students have their own knowledge about TCM, but more measures must be carried out to improve the popularizing rate of TCM. Moreover, mainland students have better knowledge of TCM and more positive attitude compared to TCM. The attitude and practice do not appear to vary significantly between genders. / published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Class of 2016 Abstract / Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine if pharmacy students are more likely to use pharmacological agents to manage pain and if men and women are equally likely to use pharmacological agents. Methods: Questionnaires were administered after a regularly scheduled class for first, second and third year pharmacy students. Data collected included a pain intensity rating, whether pain was acute or chronic, how the pain was managed (medication, exercise, etc.) and if pain interfered with activities. Results: A total of 218 students (41% men, 71% aged 19-25) participated; 70% reported acute pain, 16%, chronic pain, and 14%, no pain. Pain intensity was greater in the chronic pain group (5.8 ± 1.7) than in the acute pain group (5.0 ± 2.1; p = 0.028). Chronic pain respondents were more likely to use prescription NSAIDs, muscle relaxers, physical therapy, transdermal electrical nerve stimulation, steroid injections and beta blockers (p < 0.02). There were few differences between men and women; women used OTC NSAIDs and acetaminophen at higher rates than men (p < 0.02). Women also used two non-pharmacological strategies (changed position and relaxation) at higher levels than men (p < 0.02). Students with chronic pain reported more pain interference with daily and leisure activities (p < 0.005) and work (p = 0.003) than students in the acute pain group. Conclusions: Different strategies were used for pain management between acute and chronic pain participants, and also between both men and women. Students with chronic pain reported more interference with activities than those with acute pain.

Class of 2006 Abstract / Objective: To determine the degree of knowledge of clinically significant drug-drug interactions by third-year pharmacy students at two schools of pharmacy located in the Western U.S., hereafter referred to as School A and School B. The purpose was also to determine if the degree of knowledge of drug interactions was related to the amount of work experience as well as exposure to drug interaction information in the curriculum of the pharmacy school at which these students are completing their degrees. The hypothesis of this study was that there would be no difference in knowledge of clinically significant drug-drug interactions by pharmacy students at School A and School B. Methods: A two-page questionnaire was distributed to third year pharmacy students at School A and School B. The first page of the questionnaire contained 10 questions on potential drug-drug interactions and asked the students to indicate if an interaction was present and also rank their confidence for the response provided to the interaction question using a scale of 0 (not confident) to 10 (very confident). For each drug-drug pair, there were three response choices: (A) Should not be used together-contraindicated, (B) May be used together with monitoring, and (C) May be used together without monitoring. The second page of the questionnaire requested information regarding demographics such as age, gender, whether or not the students currently work in a pharmacy setting outside of pharmacy school and if they do, which pharmacy setting and for how many years, where the students believe most of their knowledge regarding drug-drug interactions is from, whether the students would like to have more class-time dedicated to drug-drug interactions, and asked the students’ opinion of how important it is for pharmacists to be aware of drug-drug interactions. In order to determine whether or not exposure to drug interaction information during the curriculum affected the degree of knowledge of drug interactions, a survey of the amount of time devoted to drug-drug interactions during pharmacy school was given to a representative from each school. This survey asked whether or not the curriculum at the particular school had a required course that was in whole or part specific to drug-drug interactions, how many hours were devoted to drug-drug interactions in Therapeutics, Pharmacology, Medicinal Chemistry, and other non-elective courses, and asked for an estimated total number of hours devoted to drug-drug interactions during pharmacy school. Results: A total of 182 students completed and returned the questionnaire, 68 from School A and 114 from School B. There was no significant difference regarding the knowledge of DDIs between students at School A versus School B. The average (SD) number of drug interaction questions answered correctly was 54% (±17%) correct and 56% (±15%) correct respectively. There was no significant difference in subject characteristics including mean age, gender, and type of pharmacy-related work experience between the schools. The results of the survey indicated that the majority of students at both schools work in a community setting for a pharmacy- related job (58 students (88%) and 94 students (75%) for Schools A and B, respectively). A regression analysis showed that student confidence in their ability to correctly identify interactions was the only significant predictor of DDI knowledge (p=0.0138). However, there was only a weak correlation found between correctly answered questions and confidence in the ability to answer the question correctly (r = 0.22). The majority of subjects at both schools indicated that more time should be devoted to DDIs and that DDI information is very important. Conclusion: The study found that third year pharmacy students correctly identified approximately 55% of the drug-drug interactions. There was no significant difference in drug-drug interaction knowledge between the two schools surveyed. In addition, there was only a weak correlation between drug interaction knowledge and the student’s in their ability to correctly identify interactions. After controlling for age, gender, and work experience, we found that confidence was the only significant predictor of DDI knowledge. The majority of the students at both schools believe that drug-drug interaction knowledge is very important and that there should be more exposure to drug-drug interaction information throughout their curriculum. Future studies that survey drug-drug interaction knowledge at more schools may be warranted in order to incorporate changes in curriculums that will further develop the knowledge of drug-drug interactions in future pharmacists.

Class of 2008 Abstract / Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess changes in the attitudes and knowledge of student pharmacists who attend an educational program on health and legal issues resulting from methamphetamine abuse. Methods: This study involved the presentation of a 50-minute educational program aimed at teaching student pharmacists about the health problems resulting from methamphetamine abuse and how these problems led to laws requiring pseudoephedrine-containing products to be behind the pharmacy counter. A pre-test and post-test was used to evaluate and compare knowledge before and after the educational program. Knowledge components included the laws applicable to the sale of pseudoephedrine-containing products and methamphetamine’s effect on the body. Attitude changes about the need to keep pseudoephedrine-containing products behind the pharmacy counter were also evaluated in the pre- test/post-test format. Results: The mean responses for the two attitudinal items on the pre-test and post-test were not significantly different. However, the overall mean (SD) number of correct responses for the knowledge portion (i.e., seven questions) of the pre-test and post-test were 3.04 (0.18) and 5.85 (0.16) (p=8.23 x 10- 18), respectively, reflecting a gain in knowledge. Conclusions: Although the attitudes of the participants regarding keeping pseudoephedrine-containing products behind the pharmacy counter did not change significantly, our findings suggest they did gain knowledge regarding the requirements of the CMEA and the health consequences of methamphetamine abuse.

Class of 2010 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: To determine how an interprofessional education (IPE) activity impacts students' attitudes toward interacting with other health professionals. METHODS: Students who are enrolled as first-­‐year students at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in the Fall 2009 semester were eligible for this study. Questionnaires administered during regularly scheduled classes collected levels of agreement with statements relating to working with other health professionals and the importance of IPE. Data on gender, years of undergraduate study, current degrees, type of work experience, and years of work experience were also collected. RESULTS: Questionnaires were completed by 93 students before the IPE activity and 66 students after the IPE activity. Overall, attitudes toward interprofessional learning and working with other healthcare professionals, reflected by student questionnaire ratings, were the same or worse after the IPE activity. CONCLUSIONS: Attitudes toward interprofessional learning and working with other healthcare professionals appeared to have no change or changed for the worse after the IPE activity that took place on September 3, 2009.

Class of 2010 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to determine the knowledge of third year pharmacy students about the safety of certain medications during pregnancy and to assess their awareness of an important resource available on medication safety. METHODS: The study used an analytical cross-­‐sectional design. A pre-­‐test was administered to determine baseline knowledge. Dee Quinn provided a presentation on teratogens. The same test was then administered as a post-­‐test to assess the amount of knowledge gained from the presentation. The pre and post-­‐tests were matched for data analysis. A mean and standard deviation were developed for pre and post-­‐test data and the results were compared to each other using a t-­‐test for dependent groups. RESULTS: Students showed a significant increase in knowledge after the presentation (p<0.0001). 78% of students had improved scores after the presentation. 100% of students felt that pharmacists could help make a difference in preventing malformations due to teratogen exposure. There was no significant difference between men and women or students with children and without children. Work experience did not affect knowledge scores. 64% of students felt more comfortable counseling pregnant patients after the presentation. Awareness of the Teratology Information Service improved after the presentation. CONCLUSIONS: After the presentation, students rated themselves as more comfortable speaking with pregnant patients and showed improved knowledge of teratogens. Gender, being a parent and work experience had no relevance on knowledge scores. The investigators recommend that this presentation be given to all students at the College of Pharmacy to improve knowledge in this area.