Query: new zealand pharmacy education

title: What Secondary School Career Advisors in New Zealand Know about Pharmacy and How that Knowledge Affects Student Career Choices
abstract: To explore what career advisors at secondary schools (high schools) in New Zealand know about the pharmacy profession, how they obtain that knowledge, and what their potential influence is on students' decisions to study pharmacy.  This study employed a cross sectional questionnaire design. A postal questionnaire was sent to 250 randomly selected secondary schools in New Zealand.  The response rate was 112/248 (45% Responding career advisors were familiar with many of the roles of pharmacists (mean knowledge score 11.5 out of 16) Over 90% of career advisors were familiar with the roles of pharmacists in the community setting; however, many had a poorer understanding of other pharmacist roles. One suggestion for improving the promotion of pharmacy within secondary schools was a greater involvement of pharmacists and pharmacy students in the promotion of pharmacy as a profession.  Career advisors need a broader understanding of the potential roles of pharmacists. Increasing contact from practicing pharmacists and undergraduate pharmacy students are potential ways of increasing student interest in pharmacy.

title: Ethical Learning Experiences and Engagement in Academic Dishonesty: A Study of Asian and European Pharmacy and Medical Students in New Zealand
abstract: In higher education in New Zealand, there is a burgeoning interest in, and concern with, the way students conduct themselves in their learning practices. Engagement in academically honest and dishonest behaviours is a crucial area of study within higher education. To operationalize effective teaching and assessment, it is critically important to consider how different ethnic groups operate within the learning environment when preparing for, and completing, assessments. The present study investigated differences between two ethnic groups studying in New Zealand (Asian and European) with respect to their disclosures of academic dishonesty and engagement with ethical learning experiences (ELE) Responses from 312 pharmacy and medical students were analysed in this study. A questionnaire was designed to elicit responses about engagement in academic dishonesty and ELEs. The findings emphasise that there were low rates of engagement in academically dishonest behaviours by both groups and there were no differences in disclosure of cheating and ELE. The findings showed small but significant differences between Asian and European students with respect to disclosure in the areas of copying and collusion. Subtle interactions were also noted for ethnicity and year of study, and ethnicity and gender, indicating that later year students diverged more than earlier year students and differences were more apparent amongst male students. Lastly, the findings showed that those students who read the student code of conduct were more likely to engage in academically 'honest' behaviours. These findings have implications for educationalists throughout the world, and it is possible that the hidden curriculum is playing a strong role in reframing the notion and practice of ethical conduct.

title: The state of quality improvement and patient safety teaching in health professional education in New Zealand.
abstract: To investigate how quality and patient safety domains are being taught in the pre registration curricula of health profession education programmes in New Zealand.  All tertiary institutions providing training for medicine, nursing, midwifery, dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, dietetics and 11 other allied health professions in New Zealand were contacted and a person with relevant curriculum knowledge was invited to participate. Interviews were conducted using a semi structured interview guide to explore nine quality and safety domains; improvement science, patient safety, quality and safety culture, evidence based practice, patient centred care, teamwork and communication, leadership for change, systems thinking and use of information technology (IT) Transcribed data were extracted and categorised by discipline and domain. Two researchers independently identified and categorised themes within each domain, using a general inductive approach.  Forty nine institutions were contacted and 43 (88% people were interviewed. The inclusion and extent of quality and safety teaching was variable. Evidence based practice, patient centred care and teamwork and communication were the strongest domains and well embedded in programmes, while leadership, systems thinking and the role of IT were less explicitly included. Except for two institutions, improvement science was absent from pre registration curricula. Patient safety teaching was focused mainly around incident reporting, and to a lesser extent learning from adverse events. Although a 'no blame' culture was articulated as important, the theme of individual accountability was still apparent. While participants agreed that all domains were important, the main barriers to incorporating improvement science and patient safety concepts into existing programmes included an 'already stretched curriculum' and having faculty with limited expertise in these areas.  Although the building blocks for improving the quality and safety of healthcare are present, this national study of multiple health professional pre registration education programmes has identified teaching gaps in patient safety and improvement science methods and tools. Failure to address these gaps will compromise the ability of new graduates to successfully implement and sustain improvements.

title: Veterinary Pharmaceutics: An Opportunity for Interprofessional Education in New Zealand?
abstract: Globally pharmacists are becoming increasingly involved in veterinary medicine; however, little is known about the level of interest for pharmacists playing a larger role in animal treatment in New Zealand. A key stakeholder in any progression of pharmacists becoming more involved in the practice of veterinary pharmacy is the veterinary profession. The aim of this study was to investigate views of veterinarians and veterinary students on the role of pharmacists supporting veterinarians with advice on animal medicines. Open interviews were conducted with veterinarians in Dunedin, New Zealand. Veterinary students at Massey University completed an online survey. Most veterinarians do not have regular communication with pharmacists regarding animal care, but believe it may be beneficial. In order to support veterinarians, pharmacists would need further education in veterinary medicine. Veterinary students believe there is opportunity for collaboration between professions provided that pharmacists have a better working knowledge of animal treatment. Most of the veterinary students surveyed perceive a gap in their knowledge concerning animal medicines, specifically pharmacology and compounding. While there is support for pharmacists contributing to veterinary medicine, particularly in the area of pharmaceutics, this is currently limited in New Zealand due to a lack of specialized education opportunities.

title: Inclusion of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) teaching into pharmacy curricula a cross sectional survey of Australian and New Zealand Schools/Department of pharmacy
abstract: With the increased usage of CAM worldwide comes the demand for its integration into health professional education. As primary care providers pharmacists are at the forefront, providing information and guidance to patients about safe and effective use of all medicines, including complementary medicines. Surveys of Australian community pharmacists show that their CAM training does not meet their professional needs and that their lack of suitable training prevents information provision on CAM. Similarly, student surveys mostly show that graduates don't feel comfortable with CAM counselling. Although most pharmacy Schools in Australia and New Zealand offer some form of CAM training, the extent to which CAM is taught and integrated varies widely due to the fact that its integration is not a unifying requirement and is handled quite differently at amongst institutions. This study evaluates the scope of CAM teaching in pharmacy programs in Australia and New Zealand's Schools of Pharmacy.  All 18 Schools/Departments offering Pharmacy programs in New Zealand and Australia were invited to participate in a 30 item cross sectional survey in 2010. Ethical clearance for the study was obtained through Griffith University's Human Research Ethics Committee. Survey Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 18.0. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means standard deviations and ranges were used to summarise the data. For the Likert responses, all responses with any degree of agreement were grouped together as positive responses, and all responses with any degree of disagreement were grouped together as negative response. T tests and chi square were used to analyse differences as appropriate. Results were considered significant when the p value was less than 0.05.  Ten Schools responded, 9 from Australia and 1 from a New Zealand. All except 1 reported integrating CAM teaching into the curriculum. Three Schools stated that they will be changing content, but no school was going to decrease the CAM content. During the whole pharmacy degree on average only 22h (including lectures, workshops, tutorials etc. were taught on CAM with a larger proportion of Schools (67% offering less than 22h of CAM content. Similarly, in the majority of Schools CAM content was included in less than 50% of assessment items. Only 5 Schools included CAM tasks into placement exercises. A thorough content analysis showed that the CAM content varied significantly between Schools in some areas, and that content currently taught was quite different from what the participating academics thought was essential. As CAM information sources the majority of Schools recommended professional pharmacy reference books and general websites rather than specific evidence based CAM websites. Academics responsible for CAM teaching had very different levels of employment and expertise with only one School reporting on a dedicated chair in the CAM discipline. Participating academics did not agree on the necessity of preceptor and school staff CAM training.  The findings in this study suggest that more consideration should be given to appropriate and comprehensive CAM content in pharmacy curricula across Australia and New Zealand to meet the professional and care needs of pharmacists and their patients, respectively. At a minimum it should provide the impetus for an open debate regarding what level of CAM education is sufficient in pharmacy curricula.

title: Undergraduate Pharmacy Education in the United States and New Zealand: Towards a Core Curriculum?
abstract: In recent years, bodies such as the World Health Organisation have attempted to provide guidance to pharmacyeducators on the preparation of students for future careers in pharmacy. Although a global core curriculum has not been defined, there appears to be wide consensus on the knowledge, skills and attributes that a modern pharmacygradu ate should possess. The undergraduate pharmacy programmes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC CH) and at the Universityof Otago (Otago) are described and evaluated here in the context of global developments. These programmes broadly represent the "American" and "British" models of pharmacy education, respectively. Despite many similarities,there are also major differences. These include:a separatepreregistration year (Otago) a high degree of in course experiential Work (UNC CH) a greater"practice"orientationat UNC CH and a corresponding"science" orientation at Otago; and the nature of the qualification (PharmD at UNC CH, BPharm at Otago)

title: Observations on pharmacy practice and advanced pharmacy education in New Zealand.

title: Study on Accreditation of Pharmacy Degree Course in Australia and New Zealand
abstract: Pharmaceutical education in Australia has been 100 years old.Australia began the accreditation in 2000. The standards and procedures of the accreditation provide a good reference to the scheme design of accreditation in China.

title: Smoking cessation education increases interventions in a New Zealand hospital: World No Tobacco Day revisited.
abstract: To review the impact of educational and other measures on smoking cessation interventions delivered in a New Zealand hospital setting.  The usage of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for inpatients was assessed by data gathered from the hospital pharmacy for a period before and after these educational measures.  Quarterly teaching sessions for house surgeons, monthly Effective Brief Intervention sessions for clinical staff and quarterly respiratory nurse training were delivered based on The New Zealand Guidelines for Smoking Cessation. In addition the Hutt Valley District Health Board (HVDHB) Smokefree Policy was revised from a business model to a treatment model. Over the 18 months after the educational initiatives were commenced the numbers of NRT units used in Hutt Hospital rose from a baseline of 768 to 3712 a fourfold increase.  The increase in NRT usage could be attributed to educative measures put in place. There is an opportunity for similar smoking cessation interventions to exist New Zealand wide; this could have a significant impact on reducing chronic disease.

title: Service provision in the wake of a new funding model for community pharmacy
abstract: BackgroundRecently, New Zealand has taken a system wide approach providing the biggest reform to New Zealand community pharmacy for 70 years with the aim of providing more clinically orientated patient centred services through a new funding model. The aim of this study was to understand the types of services offered in New Zealand community pharmacies since introduction of the new funding model, what the barriers are to providing these services.MethodA survey of all community pharmacies were undertaken between August, 2014 and February, 2015. Basic descriptive statistics were completed and group comparisons were made using the chi squared test with significance set at p 0.05.Results528 responses were received. Education and advice on prescription and non prescription medicines were the two top listed services provided. There were no significant differences in service provision between rural and metro based pharmacies. Many pharmacies were considering introducing new patient centred services. Four of the top ten frequently provided services have no public funding attached. Costs and staff availability are the most common barriers to undertake services, more predominantly in patient centred services.ConclusionThis study was the first to provide an evaluation of service provision in response to a new funding model for New Zealand Community Pharmacies. A broad range of services are being undertaken in New Zealand community pharmacies including patient centred services. A number of barriers to service provision were identified. This study provides a baseline for the current levels of service provision upon which future studies can compare to and evaluate any changes in service provision with differing funding models going forward.