As the scope of practice for pharmacists expands to include rendering physical assessment procedures, colleges and schools of pharmacy are increasingly incorporating various assessment skills into the curriculum. Pharmacy practice faculty are increasingly tasked with teaching and assessing learners on professional competency in entrustable professional activities and skills such as manual blood pressure measurement. Manual measurement using a sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope is considered the gold standard with regard to evaluating blood pressure. As pharmacy faculty begin to develop courses on physical assessment, a step-by-step, evidence-based andragogic/pedagogic method for designing, planning, instructing, and assessing learner proficiency is essential. The principles and techniques of active learning are frequently discussed and increasingly incorporated into the curricular and teaching philosophies of colleges and schools of pharmacy. However, the practical application of andragogic/pedagogic principles toward lesson planning and curation of active learning is infrequently discussed. In this article, we aim to illustrate a deliberate approach to designing and operationalizing active learning for auscultatory manual blood pressure measurement within the framework of Gagné’s 9 events of instruction. For each design and instruction step, we propose user-friendly, high-impact operational practices derived empirically from education science, experience, and observations. Schematically, the approach described is intended to also facilitate instructor metacognition and knowledge building of applied andragogy/pedagogy through pre hoc, ad hoc, and post hoc reflection. Pragmatically, the approach accommodates active learning lesson planning, promotes transparency of teaching and learning, and is generalizable and applicable toward the instruction of various physical assessment procedures within the health professions.

Objective: To evaluate the characteristics and intensity of religious identity integration within the curriculum of faith-based colleges and schools of pharmacy in the United States. Methods:The Web pages of 129 US colleges and schools of pharmacy were reviewed for geographic location, religious identity and faith elements articulated in the mission or vision statement, within curricular course offerings and visible as student-centered liturgy or public worship services. A taxonomic metric was created to categorize the intensity of religious identity integration.Results: 22% of colleges and schools are faith-based. Of these, 28% are categorized as faith-centered, 48% as faith-affiliated and 24% as faith-background. The religious identities included Catholicism, Judaism and Protestantism. The majority (59%) are Protestantism (denomination or nondenominational). Among faith-based colleges and schools, the majority are in the South (45%) followed by Midwest (24%), Northeast (21%) and West (10%). Conclusion:A significant proportion of US colleges and schools of pharmacy are faith-based; with the majority religious identity as Protestantism (denomination or nondenominational). Based on Web site information, the intensity of religious identity integration within the college or school's curriculum can be assessed with the majority categorized as "faith-affiliated."