Career Mentoring Options for Pharmacy Faculty and Staff Navigating the Three Phases of Cancer Survivorship.

Cancer rates are on the rise and new treatments are helping people live longer with cancer, yet the questions remains: when does one consider themselves a cancer survivor and what direction does one's career need to take when diagnosed with cancer? This commentary explores how mentoring can support working individuals, such as pharmacy faculty and staff, across the three distinct phases of cancer survivorship, (1) the acute phase including testing, diagnosis, staging, and treatment; (2) the post-treatment survival phase; and (3) the permanent phase of disease-free survival. While career mentoring programs may exist for pharmacy faculty and staff across various pharmacy practice settings, there is a notable lack of structured mentoring programs available for those faculty and staff navigating a cancer diagnosis, especially as mentoring needs shift throughout these three cancer survivorship phases. Thoughtful mentoring and support can significantly enhance the personal and professional quality of life for individuals with cancer.

Across the Annual Meeting Tables: Evaluating Pharmacy Faculty Members' Understanding of COEPA Assessment Strategies.

Objective: To assess pharmacy educators' knowledge and perceptions of Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) and ACPE Standards 2025 assessment strategies.

Methods: Participants at a session at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy completed a Padlet activity with open-ended responses to two items. No participant demographic data was collected.

Deciding Whether to Communicate a Cancer Diagnosis at Work.

With rising cancer rates, a faculty or staff member may face a personal cancer diagnosis. As the news may be unexpected, faculty and staff members with cancer have several decisions to make, including whether or not to tell colleagues or students and how to deliver the news. Guidance for these types of decisions and conversations is rarely discussed in the pharmacy literature; however, it is an important topic to consider as a cancer diagnosis can have a significant impact on the faculty or staff member, the work environment, and the college or school of pharmacy overall.

A Curricular Assessment Blueprint and Needs Analysis for the Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities.

The role of assessment in PharmD education and program accreditation continues to evolve with the release of the Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standards 2025. This special collection, titled the COEPA Curricular Assessment Blueprint and Needs Analysis, highlights best assessment practices related to each COEPA subdomain. The articles in this collection provide a blueprint for educators seeking a framework for designing and implementing assessment plans that achieve the expected outcomes for PharmD programs.

Exploring Pharmacy Students' Leadership Styles Using the 5 Voices Assessment.

Objective: Leadership development assessments are a critical component of student pharmacists' understanding and development of effective team strategies.

Methods: The 5 Voices tool, developed by GiANT Worldwide, was incorporated into the leadership curriculum across 2 colleges of pharmacies for second-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students. One public land-grant institution administers the assessment in the fall semester during a 2-h class session as part of a leadership elective leadership course and a private liberal arts institution distributes the 5 Voices assessment to all students during a 1-h spring semester required course.

Debate as an Active Learning Pedagogy Among Pharmacy Students in a Public Health Course.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a debate activity on pharmacy students' knowledge of public health and health policy topics.

Methods: Forty-six second-year pharmacy students in a required public health and health policy course debated universal healthcare coverage for Americans using the Lincoln-Douglas oral debate format. Demographic data, including age and gender, were collected.

Finalizing the Work Related to the Curriculum Outcomes and Example Objectives and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) Document: The Report of the 2022-2023 Academic Affairs Standing Committee.

The 2022-2023 Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) was charged to (1) complete the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) revisions (now renamed as COEPA - Curriculum Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities) after receiving feedback at the 2022 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Annual Meeting; (2) offer guidance on how the revised COEPA education outcomes and EPA statements should be used by member institutions, faculty, preceptor, and students; (3) guide input into the ongoing revision of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) standards for the Doctor of Pharmacy program. The published report of the 2021-2022 AAC outlines the work of the Committee through the spring of 2022. This 2022-2023 AAC report focuses on the work related to finalizing the COEPA educational outcomes, EPAs, preamble, and glossary and formally receiving approval from the AACP Board of Directors.

The AACP Academic Affairs Committee's Guidance for Use of the Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) for Pharmacy Graduates.

The 2021-2023 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) was charged with and completed the revision of the 2013 Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education Outcomes and the 2016 Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) statements for new pharmacy graduates. This work resulted in a new combined document, the Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) that was unanimously approved by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Board of Directors and was published in the Journal. The AAC was also charged with providing stakeholders with guidance about how to use the new COEPA document.

The AACP Academic Affairs Committee's Final 2022 Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) for Pharmacy Graduates to Replace 2013 CAPE and 2016 EPAs.

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Academic Affairs Committee was charged with revising both the 2013 Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Educational Outcomes (EOs) and the 2016 Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs). The Committee changed the document name from the CAPE outcomes to COEPA, (Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities) since the EOs and EPAs would now be housed together. A draft of the COEPA EOs and EPAs was released at the AACP July 2022 Annual meeting.

Guidance for Qualitative Research Manuscripts in Pharmacy Education.

The goal of this Best Practice Review is to support researchers in successfully preparing and publishing qualitative research in pharmacy education. Standard practice from the literature and journals' guidance from related fields were reviewed, and recommendations and resources applicable to qualitative research in pharmacy education were compiled for researchers planning to conduct and publish qualitative research. This review provides recommendations, not requirements, for publication in the Journal and is intended to be a guide, especially for authors and reviewers relatively new to the field of qualitative research.

Perceptions and Practices for Evaluating Faculty Workload by Pharmacy Education Administration/Leadership.

Objective: To assess how department chairs/administrators define, measure, and evaluate faculty workload to better understand practices within the Academy.

Methods: An 18-item survey was distributed to department chairs/administrators via American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Connect. Participants identified if they are a primary decision maker for faculty workload, whether their program has a workload policy, how workload is calculated, and how faculty satisfaction with workload equity is measured.

Sculpting a teaching and learning curriculum to better meet the career needs of postgraduate year 1 and 2 pharmacy residents.

Purpose: To describe implementation of the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy (OUCOP) teaching and learning curriculum (TLC) for postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) residents, including the required components, evaluation structure, residency graduate outcomes and perceptions captured by a survey following program completion, generalizability to other institutions, and opportunities for future directions.

Summary: As part of their residency training, pharmacy residents are required to develop and refine teaching, precepting, and presentation skills. To meet the required and elective competency areas, goals, and objectives on teaching, precepting, and presentation skills, many American Society of Health-System Pharmacists-accredited residency programs have utilized TLC programs.

Best Practices in Syllabus Design.

The syllabus is the cornerstone for directing faculty and student interaction within the didactic and experiential settings. Within each syllabus is both essential and optional information to guide students, faculty, and administration in course expectations as well as to explain how the course aligns within current curricular requirements to maintain program accreditation. Most syllabi contain a plethora of information that continues to grow each year, warranting concerns of syllabus bloat combined with dwindling student attention to syllabus detail.

An Update on the Progress Toward Gender Equity in US Academic Pharmacy.

To evaluate the status of gender equity in US pharmacy education since the two previous publications on the topic in 2004 and 2014. Data were gathered from existing national databases, internal American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) databases, AACP meeting minutes, published reports, scholarly articles, pharmacy association websites, individual school websites, and LinkedIn profiles. Differences between men and women were evaluated on degree completion, discipline, rank, tenure status, research, leadership development, leadership positions, salaries, and professional awards.

Impact of Transitioning a Senior Seminar Capstone Course to an Intensive Hybrid Course.

To compare outcomes (grades, resources, and perceptions) from a weekly in-person seminar capstone course (pre-revision group) to an intensive hybrid course design that included a two-day, in-person conference (10- and 25-minute student presentations) and asynchronous seminar skills sessions (post-revision group). Students' scores on seminar presentation rubrics were compared before and after the course revision. Between the groups, we compared resources, such as number of faculty and hours of involvement, and student time away from advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs).

A Systematic Review of Assessment Tools Measuring Cultural Competence Outcomes Relevant to Pharmacy Education.

To identify and describe validated assessment tools that measure cultural competence and are relevant to pharmacy education. A systematic approach was used to identify quantitative cultural competence assessment tools relevant to pharmacy education. A systematic search of the literature was conducted using the OVID and EBSCO databases and a manual search of journals deemed likely to include tools relevant to pharmacy education.

Evaluating Pharmacy Faculty's Awareness of Teaching and Learning Myths and Misconceptions.

To assess pharmacy faculty's knowledge of prominent and prevalent teaching and learning myths and misconceptions and evidence-based strategies prior to training. Participants completed a baseline assessment containing 16 true-false knowledge questions about teaching and learning misconceptions (10) and myths (six), one open-ended application question, and four participant demographic questions including years of experience in pharmacy academia, the focus of their institution (teaching or research), the number of education meetings attended, and whether they had formal training in education. After completing the baseline assessment of the top 16 misconceptions and myths, faculty were trained on the top 10 evidence-based teaching and learning strategies.

An Updated National Profile of Curriculum Committees at US Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy.

To assess how curriculum committees at US schools and colleges of pharmacy have evolved since 2011 regarding their responsibilities, structures, functions, charges, and activities. A total of 133 fully accredited schools and colleges of pharmacy were included in the survey. Data collection occurred between March and September 2020, and survey questions pertained to academic year 2019-2020.

Use of Situational Judgment Tests to Teach Empathy, Assertiveness, Communication, and Ethics.

The objectives of this study were to develop situational judgment test (SJT) scenarios for use in teaching empathy, assertiveness, and interprofessional communication in second-year pharmacy (P2) students and ethics in third-year pharmacy (P3) students, determine whether the SJTs developed were effective at measuring students' communication skills and ethical judgment, compare the performance of individual third-year students to the performance of teams of third-year students on the ethics SJT, and evaluate student feedback about SJTs as a teaching tool. Pharmacy faculty developed five SJT scenarios related to communications and five SJT scenarios related to ethics and piloted the scenarios with P2 and P3 students, respectively. Second-year students completed SJTs individually, while P3 students completed SJTs individually and in teams.

Association Between NAPLEX Preparation Program Characteristics and First-Time Pass Rates.

The objectives of this study were to (1) describe characteristics of preparation programs for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) that are currently used by colleges and schools of pharmacy and (2) evaluate these program characteristics in relation to first-attempt NAPLEX pass rates. This cross-sectional study was based on an online survey administered between February and March 2020. Assessment leads from 143 PharmD programs were invited to answer questions on their schools' PharmD program characteristics and various aspects of NAPLEX preparation programs.