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Objective. To create and implement improvisational exercises to improve first-year pharmacy students' communication skills. Design. Twelve 1-hour improvisational sessions were developed and added to an existing/established patient communication course to improve 3 basic skills: listening, observing and responding. Standardized patient examinations were used to evaluate student communication skills, and course evaluations and reflective journaling were used to evaluate students' perceptions of the improvisational exercises. Assessment. The improvisational exercises markedly improved the students' performance in several aspects of standardized patient examination. Additionally, course evaluations and student comments reflected their perception that the improvisational exercises significantly improved their communication skills. Summary. Improvisational exercises are an effective way to teach communication skills to pharmacy students.

This paper argues US manufacturers still fail to identify metrics that predict performance results despite two decades of intensive investment in data‐mining applications because indicators with the power to predict complex results must have high information content as well as a high impact on those results. But data mining cannot substitute for experimental hypothesis testing in the search for predictive metrics with high information content—not even in the aggregate—because the low‐information metrics it provides require improbably complex theories to explain complex results. So theories should always be simple but predictive factors may need to be complex. This means the widespread belief that data mining can help managers find prescriptions for success is a fantasy. Instead of trying to substitute data mining for experimental hypothesis testing, managers confronted with complex results should lay out specific strategies, test them, adapt them—and repeat the process. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Since 1973, the Indian Health Service has been training pharmacists to provide primary care to patients in an expanded role, including the compilation of complete medical histories, physical examination, diagnosis, and treatment of outpatients with selected acute and chronic illnesses. This article discusses the evolution of the Pharmacist Practitioner Training Program, the training and experience received through this program, and the utilization of graduates in the clinical setting.

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