Active learning is an important component of pharmacy education. By engaging students in the learning process, they are better able to apply the knowledge they gain. This paper describes evidence supporting the use of active-learning strategies in pharmacy education and also offers strategies for implementing active learning in pharmacy curricula in the classroom and during pharmacy practice experiences.

This paper reviews the literature, analyzes current and future practice, develops a list of competencies necessary for future pharmacists, and provides recommendations to pharmacy's academic enterprise regarding curricula of the future. Curricula of the future will center around 3 functional roles for pharmacists: patient-centered care, population-based care, and systems management; and must also foster the development of 5 cross-cutting abilities in student pharmacists: professionalism, self-directed learning, leadership and advocacy, interprofessional collaboration, and cultural competency. Future curricula must be developed in an evidence-based manner, focus less on information storage and retrieval, engage student pharmacists in a variety of highly interactive learning experiences, and expand experiential learning opportunities throughout all years.

This study sought to determine the differences in the level of diabetes care of patients in a rural family practice clinic and an urban internal medicine clinic in Alabama. Medical records of patients with diabetes were reviewed and management practices were compared to current American Diabetes Association (ADA) standards of care. The rural practice had fewer patients at goal A1c, goal LDL, and goal blood pressure. Rural patients were also less likely to receive screening and preventative services such as lipid profiles, eye examinations, microalbumin screening, aspirin therapy, and vaccinations than urban patients. Although, adherence to the ADA standards of care was lower with rural patients, the results suggest that there exists significant opportunity to improve the delivery of diabetes care services to both patient populations.

Approximately 90% of diabetes cases in pregnant women are considered gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). It is well known that uncontrolled glucose results in poor pregnancy outcomes in both the mother and fetus. Worldwide there are many guidelines with recommendations for appropriate management strategies for GDM once lifestyle modifications have been instituted and failed to achieve control. The efficacy and particularly the safety of other treatment modalities for GDM has been the source of much debate in recent years. Studies that have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of both glyburide and metformin in the management of patients with GDM will be reviewed. There is a lack of evidence with other oral and injectable non-insulin agents to control blood glucose in GDM. The role of insulin will be discussed, with emphasis on insulin analogs. Ideal patient characteristics for each treatment modality will be reviewed. In addition, recommendations for postpartum screening of patients will be described as well as recommendations for use of agents to manage subsequent type 2 diabetes in patients who are breastfeeding.

A growing body of evidence suggests that antidepressant therapies, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and venlafaxine, are effective in the management of hot flash symptoms. Several of these agents have the support of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the North American Menopause Society. To review the literature on antidepressants for the treatment of hot flashes in women, we searched the PubMed, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, and MEDLINE databases from inception through May 2009. All publication types that included human participants and that were published in English were eligible for review. These articles, relevant abstracts, and additional references were used to collect pertinent data. Although initial small pilot trials were conducted solely in breast cancer survivors, additional studies have been conducted both in breast cancer survivors and in relatively healthy menopausal women. Data on the benefits with many of these agents are conflicting. Venlafaxine and paroxetine have been studied more extensively than any of the other antidepressants and are more consistent in effectively reducing the frequency and severity of hot flashes, based on these study results. Desvenlafaxine, sertraline, fluoxetine, and citalopram should be considered second- or third-line options if patients fail therapy with or cannot tolerate venlafaxine or paroxetine, based on the current published data. Duloxetine, escitalopram, fluvoxamine, and mirtazapine should be reserved as last-line therapy until more rigorous studies are conducted assessing their use in the management of hot flashes.