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Impact of commercial support on continuing pharmacy education.

INTRODUCTION: There is a serious debate over the involvement of the pharmaceutical industry in continuing education. Policies that govern the planning of continuing education for pharmacists center on the potential conflict of interest when there is commercial support for programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of commercial support on the provision and perceived outcomes of continuing pharmacy education. METHODS: A survey was administered online to a national sample of accredited providers of continuing pharmacy education, resulting in 134 responses. The 64-item survey was developed to measure the planning practices of these providers and their perceptions of the educational and noneducational consequences of commercial support for continuing education. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-four usable questionnaires (34%) were received from 386 leaders in pharmacy education. Approximately 86% of providers and 43% of programs received commercial support. Although the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education requires that providers review instructional content and materials for commercially supported programs before delivery, only 43% always did so. Commercial support was perceived to have consequences for provider organizations, pharmacists, and patients, such as increased cost and use of drugs and financial dependency of providers and participants on industry support. DISCUSSION: The results of our study lead to the conclusions that commercial support of continuing education is widespread, affects continuing education programs, and is perceived to have significant educational and noneducational consequences. The profession should ensure that continuing education guidelines are unambiguous related to specific practices that are allowable and unallowable when receiving commercial support. Future research should study the consequences of commercial support behaviorally by examining the effects on pharmacy professionals' practice and pharmaceutical care.

Conflict of Interest↗

Mandatory continuing pharmacy education in Alberta, Canada: the response to live programs and correspondence courses.

This report briefly describes mandatory continuing pharmacy education in Alberta and provides survey data to determine the response of pharmacists to the program. The survey results indicate that most pharmacists exceeded the required number of education units and that more than 70 percent of the total acquired were obtained by completing correspondence courses. Females, those under 40 years of age and retail staff preferred correspondence programs. Managers, hospital staff and those over 40 years of age took somewhat fewer education units by correspondence, but attended more live programs than the former group. The popularity of correspondence is presumably due to the fact that most were provided free and because they are a more convenient method of obtaining education units. The freedom allowed to design their own educational program plus the modest costs involved are probably the two main reasons for the acceptability of Albert's continuing education program to pharmacists.

Alberta↗

A comparison of computer-assisted instruction and printed information as methods of pharmacy continuing education.

A continuing education (CE) program was developed to teach hospital pharmacists parameters for monitoring adult total parenteral nutrition (TPN) patients. The effectiveness of a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) module as a method of CE was compared with that of printed information (PI). The computer program was developed using an Apple IIe personal computer and Apple Pilot. Forty-nine hospital pharmacists were given a pretest, the CAI or PI program, a posttest immediately after the instruction, and a retention test 2 weeks later. The CAI group (n = 23) had mean test scores of 53.3% for the pretest, 87.7% for the posttest, and 81.9% for the retention test. The PI group (n = 26) had mean test scores of 54.2% for the pretest, 84.7% for the posttest, and 78.2% for the retention test. Both methods were effective CE programs based on increases in mean test scores from pretest to posttest. Retention-test scores showed a statistically significant drop from posttest scores for each group. A comparison of mean retention-test scores with mean pretest scores for each group demonstrated that participants in each group had retained a statistically significant amount of material from baseline knowledge. When differences in mean pretest, posttest, and retention-test scores were compared between the two groups, no statistically significant differences were found. CAI and PI were equally effective methods of continuing education.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗

Pharmacy continuing education--its value to hospital pharmacy practice.

A survey was mailed nationally to all hospitals with over 300 beds. A portion of the questionnaire focused on the academic training of current directors and their perceptions regarding continuing education. Less than 50 percent of the respondents perceived C.E. as being beneficial to them as a hospital pharmacy administrator. It is apparent from the survey results that there is a group of pharmacists who are not receiving the benefits desired from C.E. Recommendations are made that will increase the opportunities for management training for all pharmacists.

Education, Pharmacy, Continuing↗

Budgetary considerations in planning pharmacy continuing education programs.

This article presents three years of financial data on pharmacy continuing education programs offered by a college of pharmacy. Forty-one programs were offered resulting in the generation of 35,702 instructional units of activity and 3028.8 CEUs. Total costs were $295,797.00 of which $125,822.00 was for direct costs. Income totaled $127,754.00. Costs and income per registrant, instructional unit, and program are presented, as are comparative data by program type for the three-year period. The total cost of one hour of programming for one participant was $8.29. Some thoughts on who should pay for the costs of CE for professionals are presented. Figures are discussed in light of situational factors influencing program delivery. Staff productivity was determined to be 11.7 programs per FTE or 13.7 programs per year. This last figure translated to serving 2,654 participants per year. Total income accounted for only 43.2 percent of total expenses. Increase in registration fees was suggested as one way to offset all expenses.

Budgets↗

Regional coordinators of continuing pharmacy education. Seven years later.

In 1976 a regional network of coordinators of continuing education was established in British Columbia to increase the accessibility of programs to all pharmacists. The purpose of this paper is to report the contributions of the network to continuing education since its inauguration. As of 1983, 94 pharmacists have been trained to assist with the design and management of continuing education programs and they have had a significant impact on regional programming. When yearly summary statistics from the four years prior to the network are compared to the seven subsequent years an approximate five-fold increase in the average number of programs is found. There is also a greater than two fold increase in the average number of contact hours and an approximate six-fold increase in the average number of registrations. The network of coordinators has increased not only the quantity but also the relevancy of programs by focusing on regional needs. In addition, the network has had spill-over benefits to the University of British Columbia and the licensing body in some of their other province-wide activities such as teleconferencing competency assessment, and poison prevention programs.

Administrative Personnel↗

Evaluation of computer-assisted self-instructional module for pharmacy continuing education.

A computer-assisted self-instructional module was developed as a method of providing continuing education to pharmacists. A prospective, nonrandomized study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI). Using an Apple II microcomputer and anticoagulant therapy as the content base, a series of ten case studies was written and programmed. Twenty-two staff pharmacists from a university hospital and a community hospital participated. Participants were first given a pretest, proceeded through the CAI, took the same test as a posttest, then two weeks later, took a different posttest to measure knowledge retention. The mean test scores before and immediately after the CAI were 55.8% and 80.4%. The mean test score for the two-week posttest was 74%. The mean difference was found to be highly significant for both the pretest and immediate posttest (P less than 0.0001) and the pretest and two-week posttest (P less than 0.001). The study suggested that the use of a CAI module was effective in improving, as well as maintaining, pharmacists' knowledge and that a significant portion of knowledge gained was retained after a period of two weeks. Pharmacists' evaluations of this method of continuing education were generally favorable.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗

A descriptive analysis of pharmacy continuing education offerings in 1985.

This study reports the results of a national survey of ACPE-approved provider continuing education offerings during 1985. The study was designed to identify frequently-presented topics, characterize types of programs offered, describe the providers offering programs and detail continuing education activities on a regional basis. Data were requested through the mail and the ACPE "program description form" was used as the source of the study data. Two hundred and one (84.1%) ACPE-approved providers from eight regions of the country and Puerto Rico participated and data from 2,461 programs were analyzed. Differences and similarities among programs offered and characteristics of providers were reported. Additional information was generated on when programs were offered, methods of presentation, average tuition charged and average credit hours offered. Significant differences were noted. Comparisons with previous national studies were made where possible. Among the findings was: an impact by mandatory continuing education requirements on the number of programs available; an increase in average program tuition charges; a decrease in the average number of credit hours per program; and an increase in competition among providers. Programs provided a rich variety of offerings, required a moderate tuition charge, were offered in every month, and used many different formats and delivery methods.

Data Collection↗

Pharmacy continuing education available on the Internet.

Access to interesting and pertinent continuing education material would be expected to encourage pharmacists to pursue postgraduate professional development. The Internet is one means of providing accessible and timely instructional material. Twenty-nine Internet sources of continuing education available for pharmacists were identified. Criteria for inclusion included free educational credit and accreditation by a recognized body. Evaluation criteria were currency of the offerings, author and sponsor identification, software requirements in addition to a browser, and methods for submitting examination answers and receiving certificates of credit.

Education, Continuing↗