Assessing incoming students’ comfort with technology and student orientation activities to help acquaint students with new technology could help improve their acceptance of educational technology used for testing.

Our study suggests that students’ inherent bias towards technology plays an important role in their perception of computer-based testing. Assessing incoming students’ comfort with technology and student orientation activities to help acquaint students with new technology could help improve their acceptance of educational technology used for testing.

Pharmacy student-perceived stress may impact academic experiences. This research aimed to investigate whether there was an increase in student-perceived stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Current pharmacy students were surveyed in May 2020 at a public pharmacy school that utilizes an active learning design and follows a flipped classroom approach. In addition to measuring perceived stress, the survey measured coping behaviors, self-efficacy, and emotional status. The collected data were compared with archived data that were collected for internal use in 2018. Student’s t-test analyses were used to compare 2020 with 2018 data.

A total of 66 students completed the 2020 survey (response rate 26.2%) and 192 students completed the 2018 survey (response rate 63.2%). On a scale from 0 (never or not applicable) to 5 (multiple times each day), average student-perceived stress was 1.75 (SD = 0.93) in 2020. This value of perceived stress presented a slight, but not statistically significant, reduction from 1.85 (SD = 1.04) in 2018. Comparing 2018 and 2020 datasets showed no significant differences in coping behavior, self-efficacy, or emotional status.

Based on the sample with the lower response rate that completed the survey in 2020, student-perceived stress did not increase during online, remote learning associated with the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the sample with a higher response rate prior to the pandemic. Perhaps the COVID-19 related changes were seamless to students due to their aptitude for remote, online learning.

Based on the sample with the lower response rate that completed the survey in 2020, student-perceived stress did not increase during online, remote learning associated with the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the sample with a higher response rate prior to the pandemic. Perhaps the COVID-19 related changes were seamless to students due to their aptitude for remote, online learning.

The term “hidden curriculum” (HC) is a set of ethical, moral, and value-based teachings communicated in a non-explicit manner. Recent literature has described increasing awareness of the prevalence of the HC and potential negative impact on medical learners; however, this information is lacking in pharmacy resident education. Consequently, we conducted a survey study of United States pharmacy residents to learn their perceptions concerning the HC in pharmacy residency training.

A nationwide survey of pharmacy residents was conducted in June 2019. The survey assessed the following presence of negative HC (score 0 to 80), cynicism (score 0 to 25), burnout via Maslach Burnout Inventory depersonalization (MBI-D) (range 0 to 30), and emotional exhaustion via Maslach Burnout Inventory emotional exhaustion (MBI-EE) (range 0 to 54). Higher scores represent increased occurrences of each domain.

The mean HC score was 20 (SD 14.7), mean cynicism score was 9 (SD 5.5), MBI-D was 5.5 (SD 4.5), and MBI-EE was 24.2 (SD 12.4). Of those completing an MBI score, 40.4% (82/203) reported burnout in one area, while 15.8% (32/203) reported burnout in both areas. Residents reporting burnout had higher mean HC and cynicism scores.

Awareness to develop and grow cultures that minimize the presence of a negative HC is essential to improve postgraduate pharmacy training.

Awareness to develop and grow cultures that minimize the presence of a negative HC is essential to improve postgraduate pharmacy training.

There is limited research on burnout among students and faculty of health professions programs. This study was designed to assess burnout among students and faculty at a college of pharmacy (COP), college of optometry (COO), and school of physician assistant studies (SPAS).

The Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) was distributed to faculty and students at Marshall B Ketchum University (MBKU) COP, COO, and SPAS. Scores for burnout, compassion satisfaction, and secondary traumatic stress were compared between programs, faculty, and students.

Median secondary traumatic stress scores were statistically higher for respondents (students and faculty) in the SPAS (24 [interquartile range (IQR) 17-27]) vs. respondents in the COP (20 [IQR 18-26]) and COO (19 [IQR 16-22]). Faculty had statistically higher median compassion satisfaction scores (41 [IQR 34-44]) vs. students (36 [IQR 32-40]), while students had statistically higher median burnout scale scores compared to faculty (27 [IQR 23-32] vs. 21 [IQR 17-26]). There was no difference in secondary traumatic stress between students and faculty, and there were no differences in compassion satisfaction or burnout between programs.

This study demonstrated that students in the COP, COO, and SPAS had higher burnout scores when compared to faculty at the study institution. These results suggest that efforts to address burnout should first focus on students. SPAS students and faculty may require specific efforts to address secondary trauma.

This study demonstrated that students in the COP, COO, and SPAS had higher burnout scores when compared to faculty at the study institution. These results suggest that efforts to address burnout should first focus on students. SPAS students and faculty may require specific efforts to address secondary trauma.

There has been a movement in clinical education towards integrating foundational and applied course content. It remains unclear what best practices are for integration or how meaningful integration is for improving learning. We assessed the impact and perceptions of different degrees of integration in Integrated Pharmacy Care and Patient Management (IPC) courses.

Students and faculty of one four-year doctor of pharmacy program were asked to complete surveys upon conclusion of the last of twelve integrated courses. Three degrees of integration (first degree, second degree, complete Integration) were defined for respondents. The student questionnaire included items on perceived value of integrated education as well as used and preferred levels of integration throughout the course series. DL-Alanine research buy Perceived estimated integration levels were then correlated with mean grade point averages (GPAs) for the courses. The faculty survey assessed experience with, and perceptions of, integrated teaching.

Sixty-five students (100% response) and 10 faculty (50% response) completed the surveys.