Background: Dental patients often have comorbidities and take multiple medications, some of which could impact their dental health and treatment.  A pharmacist in a dental clinic can assist with the gathering, documentation and evaluation of a dental patient’s medication history as it pertains to their dental visit and overall health.  Purpose: To develop and implement a collaborative and interprofessional education program with a pharmacist providing services in a dental school clinic.     Summary: Creighton University School of Dentistry, a student-operated dental clinic located in Omaha, Nebraska, provides dental care by student dentists, faculty and staff to the surrounding community in a learning-focused environment.  A pharmacist was incorporated into the dental clinic to create and establish an interprofessional relationship with both dental students and faculty beginning August 2014.  Pharmacy students on an ambulatory care advanced pharmacy practice experience rotation were eventually added to the team.  The pharmacy team provided medication therapy management services including disease state and medication counseling, medication reconciliation, identifying drug-related problems and dental implications of medications, and recommendations for prescribed medications.  Conclusion: The pharmacy team’s presence was largely accepted by dental faculty, staff, dental students, and patients.  Pharmacists can play an important role in a dental clinic by performing thorough health and medication histories and communicating with dental and medical providers involved in a patient’s care.   

Objective. To describe the development, implementation, and assessment of simulated interprofessional education (IPE) telehealth case activities. Methods. Faculty from pharmacy and physician assistant schools developed interprofessional cases covering topics addressed in both curricula and designed for specific levels of learners. Using a telehealth format, pharmacy students were paired with physician assistant students and met at specified times in a virtual room. Faculty representing both professions assessed students as they discussed a patient case, determined a diagnosis, and collaborated to develop appropriate treatment options. Preexperience and post-experience data and student reflections were collected. Results. Pharmacy students' responses to items on the Team Skills Scale (TSS) completed after participating in four IPE telehealth case activities indicated positive changes. Mean total TSS scores significantly improved from pre-experience 62.3 (SD 8.4) to post-experience 72.6 (SD 5.7). Quantitative evaluation of student teams' participation in an interprofessional activity was assessed using the Creighton Interprofessional Collaborative Evaluation (C-ICE) instrument and the average score was 90%. Theme analysis was performed on student reflections and the most prominent themes identified were satisfaction from interacting with other health care professionals, increased confidence in clinical decision-making ability, and affirmation that IPE telehealth cases should be included in each year of the curriculum. Conclusion. Implementation of interprofessional cases using telehealth technology is an effective way for pharmacy schools to incorporate IPE into their curriculum. Students reported improved self-perception of interprofessional competence and attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration after participating in IPE telehealth cases.

Objectives. To develop and implement a health fair and educational sessions for elementary school children led by health professions students. Design. The structure and process were developed with elementary school administration to determine the health topics to be covered. Students and faculty members created a ''hands-on,'' youth-oriented health fair and interactive health educational sessions. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected on learning outcomes from the underserved child population and health professions students. Assessment. The health fair and educational sessions increased awareness of underserved youth in the areas of critical health behaviors, purposeful education on health issues facing their community, and exposure to careers in various health professions. The activities provided meaningful learning experiences for the health professions students. Conclusion. The health education program model is an excellent way to teach health education, communication and critical thinking skills, and service learning to health professions students.

Healthcare institutions, accreditation agencies for higher learning, and organizations such as the National Academy of Medicine in the United States, support interprofessional education (IPE) opportunities. However, incorporating IPE opportunities into academic settings remains difficult. One challenge is assessing IPE learning and practice outcomes, especially at the level of student performance to ensure graduates are "collaboration-ready". The Creighton-Interprofessional Collaborative Evaluation (C-ICE) instrument was developed to address the need for a measurement tool for interprofessional student team performance. Four interprofessional competency domains provide the framework for the C-ICE instrument. Twenty-six items were identified as essential to include in the C-ICE instrument. This instrument was found to be both a reliable and a valid instrument to measure interprofessional interactions of student teams. Inter-rater reliability as measured by Krippendorff's nominal alpha (nKALPHA) ranged from .558 to .887; with four of the five independent assessments achieving nKALPHA greater than or equal to 0.796. The findings indicated that the instrument is understandable (Gwet's alpha coefficient (gAC) 0.63), comprehensive (gAC = 0.62), useful and applicable (gAC = 0.54) in a variety of educational settings. The C-ICE instrument provides educators a comprehensive evaluation tool for assessing student team behaviors, skills, and performance.

Objective. To evaluate the impact of repeated simulations and testing on the pharmacy practice skills development of third-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students. Design. A pharmacy practice skills laboratory was redesigned to reinforce skills development and enhance retention. Timed, repeated learning experiences that increased in complexity throughout the semester were used to test student knowledge, skills, and abilities. Assessment. Over a 5-year period, scores from skills-based activities deemed essential to professional practice and repeated 4 or more times in the course were analyzed. There was a significant improvement in scores on drug utilization reviews and patient counseling simulations despite the increasing difficulty and complexity of the medication problems presented (p ,0.001). Students' scores on prescription verification and sterile product verification also improved significantly over 3 assessments ( p ,0.001), but then plateaued, with less improvement seen in performance on subsequent assessments. Conclusion. Providing multiple opportunities for students to conduct or simulate pharmacy practice activities and then test their knowledge and skills improves students' learning and performance.