Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Standardized Patient Counseling Rubric For A Pharmaceutical Care And Communications Course, Niambi Horton Pharmd, Kenna D. Payne Pharmd, Michelle Jernigan Pharmd, Jill Frost Pharmd, Stephen Wise Pharmd, Mary Klein Pharmd, Joel Epps Mba, H. Glenn Anderson Pharmd

Pharmaceutical Science and Research

Objective. To restructure a required pharmaceutical care and communications course to place greater emphasis on communication skills and include a high-stakes assessment.

Design. A standardized counseling rubric was developed for use throughout the pharmacy curriculum and the counseling laboratory practicals were changed to high-stakes assessments.

Assessment. An annual mid-semester and end-of-semester high-stakes patient-counseling objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) conducted prior to and after revision of the course and counseling rubric documented improvements in students’ scores. Performance on the post-course annual assessment patient counseling OSCE improved compared to that on the pre-course (p,0.001).

Conclusion. The 2010 course revision improved …

Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Ligands Inhibit Igf-Ii And Adipokine Stimulated Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation, Travis B. Salisbury, Gary Z. Morris, Justin K. Tomblin, Ateeq R. Chaudhry, Carla Cook, Nalini Santanam

Pharmaceutical Science and Research

Obesity increases human cancer risk and the risk for cancer recurrence. Adipocytes secrete paracrine factors termed adipokines that stimulate signaling in cancer cells that induce proliferation. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that plays roles in tumorigenesis, is regulated by exogenous lipophilic chemicals, and has been explored as a therapeutic target for cancer therapy. Whether exogenous AHR ligands modulate adipokine stimulated breast cancer cell proliferation has not been investigated. We provide evidence that adipocytes secrete insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) at levels that stimulate the proliferation of human estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer cells. Using …

Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Delta Agonist, Hpp593, Prevents Renal Necrosis Under Chronic Ischemia, Larisa V. Fedorova, Komal Sodhi, Cara Gatto-Weis, Nitin Puri, Terry D. Hinds Jr., Joseph I. Shapiro Md, Deepak Malhotra

Pharmaceutical Science and Research

The Goldblatt’s 2 kidney 1 clip (2K1C) rat animal model of renovascular hypertension is characterized by ischemic nephropathy of the clipped kidney. 2K1C rats were treated with a specific peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ) agonist, HPP593. Clipped kidneys from untreated rats developed tubular and glomerular necrosis and massive interstitial, periglomerular and perivascular fibrosis. HPP593 kidneys did not exhibit any histochemical features of necrosis; fibrotic lesions were present only in perivascular areas. Necrosis in the untreated clipped kidneys was associated with an increased oxidative stress, up regulation and mitochondrial translocation of the pro-death protein BNIP3 specifically in tubules. In the kidneys …

Principles Of Management Of Severe Hyponatremia, Antonios H. Tzamaloukas Md, Deepak Malhorta Md, Phd, Bradley H. Rosen Do, Dominic S. C. Raj S. C. Raj Md, Glen H. Murata Md, Joseph I. Shapiro Md

Pharmaceutical Science and Research

Hyponatremia represents a serious health hazard.¹ Hospitalized patients,² nursing home residents,³ women,^4,5 and children⁶ exhibit high frequency and/or severity of hyponatremia. Hyponatremia developing during the course of other morbid conditions increases their severity.^7–10 Estimates of direct costs for treating hyponatremia in the United States ranged between $1.61 and $3.6 billion.¹¹

Clinical manifestations of hyponatremia are universal^12,13 and range from subtle (disturbances of balance, problems in cognition detected only during specific testing) to life-threatening manifestations of increased intracranial pressure with life-threatening hypoxia^14–16 and noncardiac pulmonary edema.¹⁷ Although the treating physicians must …

An Update On Braf Inhibitors And Other New Molecular Targets For The Treatment Of Malignant Melanoma Of The Skin, M. O. Faruk Khan, Carroll L. Ramos

Pharmaceutical Science and Research

Malignant melanoma of the skin originates from mutations in melanocytes and can be lethal if unrecognized or untreated in its earlier stages. Deaths from melanoma are increasing in the United States and around the world every year. The available treatments produce low rates of response with modest survival impact. Among potential molecular targets under investigation, which are mostly in the tyrosine kinase pathway, the BRAF (V-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1) gene is the best studied and most frequently reported mutation in melanoma. The molecular targets for melanoma treatment, promising drugs for future melanoma treatment as well as the …

The Impact Of A Community Pharmacist Conducted Comprehensive Medication Review (Cmr) On 30-Day Re-Admission Rates And Increased Patient Satisfaction Scores: A Pilot Study, Brittany Snodgrass, Charles K. Babcock, Anne Teichman

Pharmacy Practice & Administration

Objective: To determine the impact of pharmacist conducted Comprehensive Medication Review (CMR) follow-up within seven days after discharge on (1) readmission rates, (2) detection of drug related problems, (3) and changes in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores.

Design: Rates of re-admission for pneumonia, congestive heart failure (CHF), or myocardial infarction (MI), within 30 days of discharge are compared between patients receiving a CMR from the pharmacist to a historical control group not receiving the service. The CMR documentation is reviewed to classify any detected drug related problems. Overall HCAHPS scores for the hospital are compared …