PHARMACY AS A PROFESSION (PHAR 700)
Course Overview
Pharmacy as a Profession has both a didactic and practicum component. Students will receive one hour of didactic training each week for the purpose of being introduced to the social, behavioral, and economic aspects of pharmacy practice, and the education needed to prevent and resolve medication-related problems or to respond to drug information requests. Specific topics to be covered are: introduction to the concept of professionalism; the importance of conveying a professional image; aspects of the American health care system; pharmacy practice in various settings; pharmaceutical care and its implementation; professional associations; contemporary health care issues impacting the profession of pharmacy such as managed care, health maintenance organizations; professional ethics; and opportunities available through postgraduate education and training.
PHARMACY HISTORY - Elective (PHAR 747)
Course Overview
PHARMACY LAW AND ETHICS (PHAR 707)
Course Overview
The course teaches students the federal, state and local rules, regulations and civil liability that affect the practice of pharmacy. Specific law topics to be focused on are: the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act; related Federal Acts; drug product selection and generic substitution; Controlled Substance Act; West Virginia Pharmacy Law; malpractice; the legislative body and process; and pharmaceutical care. The ethics portion of the course is intended to give students an understanding of the ethical dimensions of the practice of pharmacy as a profession, including familiarity with the Code of Ethics, the ethical obligations of the pharmacy professional, and the process of ethical decision making and its applicability to the practice of pharmacy.
PATIENT HEALTH EDUCATION (PHAR 720)
Course Overview
This course emphasizes the importance of effective interpersonal communication by pharmacists as a member of the health care team. Topics are divided into six sections: understanding patient needs, wishes and preferences; establishing an optimal patient counseling environment; building a relationship with a patient; interviewing, assessment, documentation, and counseling; building relationships with others; and applying these together through communicating with specific populations such as the elderly, patients with chronic illnesses, patients with terminal illnesses, and others. Basic communication skills emphasized in the instruction and practice exercises include: understanding the model for interpersonal communication, verbal and nonverbal communication; barriers to communication; listening; empathy; assertiveness; and conflict resolution. Students also gain experience in gathering and evaluating patient information, formulating a plan, monitoring for desired outcomes, and documenting for the purpose of achieving optimal drug therapy outcomes.
PHARMACY MANAGEMENT (PHAR 728)
Course Overview
This course is the first of a two course sequence (the other being PHAR 733 - Pharmacy Systems) whose purpose is to familiarize pharmacy students with the basic principles, terms, and functions of pharmacy management that must be undertaken in every pharmacy practice setting. The student will survey a full spectrum of business practices required of pharmacists who will be entrepreneurs, own or lease a pharmacy, practice in a hospital or community pharmacy, or simply want to establish new pharmaceutical care services. This course will focus on evaluating the financial performance of a pharmacy, strategic planning and marketing management, and developing a market plan to provide innovative pharmaceutical care services. Material is presented in the form of didactic lectures, case study discussions, problem set assignments, and a team project and presentation that emphasize the application of methods, practices, and principles relevant to the course topics.
PHARMACY SYSTEMS (PHAR 733)
Course Overview
The intent of this course is to familiarize pharmacy students with the day to day aspects of management of pharmacy operations and personnel management in different pharmacy systems. Students will be introduced to managerial issues pertaining to institutional, community, and other pharmacy venues. Topics will include the basic principles of automation, purchasing, inventory control, pricing, work flow and scheduling concepts as they relate to the efficient and economic delivery of pharmacy services. Personnel management issues such as recruitment and training, motivation, leadership, performance evaluation and conflict management will also be discussed. Students will also learn to evaluate third party programs and their impact on pharmacy operations. The last few weeks of the semester will be devoted to panel discussions during which practitioners from institutional, community and other settings will be invited to share their experiences of applying lecture concepts in day to day operations of their pharmacy.
HEALTH PROMOTION AND DISEASE PREVENTION (PHAR 737)
Course Overview
The intent of this course is to familiarize pharmacy students with the concept of public health, major community health problems and needs, and the importance of health promotion and disease prevention concepts, theories, and services. Students will also gain an understanding of why in many instances pharmacists are logical choices, how they can overcome barriers, and plan, market, seek compensation, and evaluate outcomes of health promotion and disease prevention services.
OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT (PHAR 738)
Course Overview
This course covers the fundamentals of quality assessment and quality improvement (QA/QI) within healthcare systems. Additionally, the course provides an introduction to outcomes research methods, including methods of pharmacoeconomic analysis. Topics covered include: conceptual frameworks for quality assessment; the regulatory and market forces that drive the need for QA/QI; statistical process control; performance; indicators: medication error prevention; adverse-event monitoring; drug use evaluation; clinical guideline implementation; formulary management; and pharmacoeconomics.
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