e42 Abstracts / Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 10 (2014) e1–e64

Pharmacist–Technician Teamwork in HypertensionManagement Services in Community Pharmacies:Effects of Team Composition and EnvironmentalFactorsS.Y. Hsu1, J.K. Mount2, 1School of Pharmacy, West

Coast University, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2School of

Pharmacy, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

Expanding patient care in community pharmacy neces-

sitates effective pharmacy team efforts. This paper

examines pharmacist-technician teams and examines

whether team composition and environmental factors

influenced team agreement and communication

regarding a novel hypertension management program.

Methods: Data were gathered via self-administered survey

completed by each member of 12 pharmacist–technician

pairs. Analysis used Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative

Analysis (fsQCA). Outcome measures were: 1) team

agreement on (a) technician tasks and (b) pharmacist tasks

and 2) team communication. Two types of conditions (i.e.,

potential predictors) were examined: team composition

(indicated by pharmacist experience and pharmacist expe-

rience relative to technician experience) and environmental

factors (indicated by auxiliary support in the pharmacy,

pharmacy workload, and economic status of the neighbor-

hood). Outcomes and conditions were constructed in

continuous fuzzy sets for analysis. A plausible causal

configuration was deemed relevant if at least one case

exhibited this particular configuration; a configurationwas

considered a sufficient solution for an outcome it met the

consistency benchmark (set at 0.9).

Results: Team agreement on technician tasks was higher

when: (1) a pharmacist was paired with a more senior

technician in a pharmacy that had higher auxiliary

support and (2) an experienced pharmacist worked in

a low-workload pharmacy in a less affluent neighbor-

hood. Agreement on pharmacist tasks was higher when:

(1) a pharmacy had a low workload and higher auxiliary

support and (2) an inexperienced pharmacist was in a

low-workload pharmacy in a more affluent neighbor-

hood. Only one configuration was associated with the

two communication variables. The team had more

discussion about tasks when the pharmacist was more

senior than the technician. Greater communication was

reported when the pharmacist was more senior and the

pharmacy had greater auxiliary support.

Conclusions: Results begin to identify team composition

and pharmacy environment factors that promote (or

impede) team agreement. They suggest ways to enhance

pharmacy team-building.

Pharmacy Practice Needs in Rural MaineS.L. Martin, M. Harpine, K. Anderson, Husson School of

Pharmacy, Husson University, Bangor ME

The Husson University School of Pharmacy set forth

Strategic Priorities for fiscal year 2013 – 2018. There are

11 strategic initiatives; the seventh is to “Influence the

practice of pharmacy and health care delivery in the

State of Maine.” Within that initiative, Objective 7.4

states: “In collaboration with practitioners and state

professional organizations, periodically assess that phar-

macy practice needs, including any rural-specific needs,

in Maine and work to introduce appropriate practice

models and/or legislative changes to address those

needs.” During the spring semester, 2014, a research

elective was offered to begin to achieve this objective.

Methods: While the Strategic Priorities were in place, a

mechanism to achieve Objective 7.4 was not yet oper-

ationalized as of August 2013. Dr. S.L. Martin with

expertise in epidemiology and rural health joined the

faculty and selected this objective within her research

agenda. She next offered a new research elective for the

pharmacy students, thereby recruiting two third year

pharmacy students. A research team was assembled with

these two students, Dr. Martin as the faculty advisor,

and input from pharmacy practice faculty (one of whom

served as Inspector for the Maine Board of Pharmacy

and the other practiced as a pharmacist in Maine for 30

years). The team used their networks to identify key

informant interviewees; and they established a short

survey for all pharmacists in the State to critically assess

their practice needs.

Results: Thus far, 10 key informant interviews have been

conducted. A variety of disciplines were sampled,

including but not limited to a former public health

nurse, medical doctor and vice president of medical

affairs, former pharmacist and Board Chair of the

Maine Wellness Connection, a retired independent

pharmacy store owner, and a university researcher

affiliated with American Pharmacist Association. The

areas of concern mentioned most often were opiate

abuse, use and diversion; and the challenges associated

with access. A survey has been drafted for distribution to

over 1,000 licensed pharmacists in Maine, during the fall

of 2015 to explore these and other factors related to

pharmacy practice in the state.

Conclusions: The rural nature of Maine creates a barrier

to access especially in the landscape of fewer indepen-

dent pharmacies. Opioids challenge practice in a variety

of ways, including robberies, overdose, and difficult

access for those that need it. These preliminary findings

in combination with forth-coming survey data will

clarify areas that present opportunities for pharmacists

to make a difference to Maine’s rural population.

Pharmacy Practice Research Internship – An InnovativeApproach Linking Practice, Research and TeachingE.S. Schaafsma1, S.K.A. van Welie2, N. Pras1, R.P. van

Hulten1, K. Taxis1, 1Departement of Pharmacotherapy

and Pharmaceutical Care, University Center for

Pharmacy, University of Groningen, The Netherlands,2Master of Pharmacy Student

To evaluate our pharmacy practice research internship.

e43Abstracts / Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 10 (2014) e1–e64

Methods: In the Netherlands, the pharmacy degree is

obtained after 6 years of university training complying

with Dublin descriptors, a model for higher education

aiming at comparable qualifications in all European

universities. In 2006, at the University of Groningen, we

introduced an eight week pharmacy practice research

internship as part of the six months pharmacy trainee-

ship which is obligatory in the European Union (EU).

The students learn how to design, implement and pre-

sent a pharmacy practice research project. Research

questions are raised by practicing pharmacists. Results

should be applicable for the hosting (hospital) pharmacy

in daily practice. Excellent papers are submitted to

scientific journals. We analyzed all pharmacy practice

research proposals which have been carried out between

2006 and 2013.

Results: A total of 409 projects were carried out (average

56 projects (range 33-78) annually). Of those 58% were

carried out in a community pharmacy and the rest in a

hospital setting. Overall, 52% of projects were about

pharmaceutical care (eg medication reviews, first pre-

scription counseling) or about therapeutic guidelines (eg

implementation of the new osteoporosis guideline).

Projects on logistics or quality management were also

frequently carried out (22%). In hospital pharmacies,

unlike community pharmacies, some students had the

opportunity to research therapeutic drug monitoring or

(small scale) production issues. Overall, 138 pharmacies

were involved (109 community and 29 hospitals).

Conclusions: Pharmacy Practice Research Internship in

our university is a successful collaboration with a large

network of practicing pharmacists in the region; The

projects reflect current issues in both community and

hospital pharmacies. In the future we aim to carry out

multicenter studies to improve generalizability and

thereby enhance the scientific quality of the projects.

Pharmacy Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, andEvaluation of Direct-to-Consumer AdvertisingF. Saleem1, M.A. Hassali1, H. Aljadhey2, 1School of

Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia,

Penang, Malaysia, 2College of Pharmacy, King Saud

University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

To assess pharmacy students’ knowledge, attitudes, and

evaluation of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA).

Methods: A cross sectional, self-administered survey was

conducted to assess second, third and fourth year phar-

macy students’ perception towardsDTCA.The surveywas

conducted from September toDecember 2013 at School of

Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pe-

nang, Malaysia. Descriptive statistics were used to elabo-

rate demographic characteristics, while inferential statistics

were employed to compute the association among study

variables. SPSS v 17.0 was used for data collection and p!0.05 was taken as significant.

Results: Two hundred and thirty six (62.10%) of the 380

students enrolled participated in the study. The internet

was reported as major medium of DTCA exposure by

the students (n¼149, 63.1%) followed by television

(n¼113, 47.9%) and magazines (n¼74, 31.4%).

Although 131 (55.5%) of the respondents believed that

DTCA helps to educate the patients, 98 (41.5%) of the

respondents reported that DTCA is unable to provide

complete drug information. Ethnicity was found to have

a significant association with this statement (p¼0.039,

4c¼0.219). Within this context, 143 (60.5%) of the

students hence prefer to consult physicians before using

an advertised medication even they have the similar

symptoms as shown in DTCA. Furthermore, 162

(68.6%) were confident that the physicians prescribe

medications based on the effectiveness and not on

DTCA. In term of perception, 104 (44.0%) of the

students revealed that after being exposed to DTCA,

branded medicines became their penchant when

compared with generics. No significant association how-

ever was reported among the other study variables.

Conclusions: Based on the study results, pharmacy

students had an overall negative attitude toward

DTCA. Advertisement related issues should be thor-

oughly discussed during teaching and training sessions

to highlight a true insight of DTCA.

Pharmacy Students’ Experience in Community-basedServices: Patterns and Lessons from 16 Schools ofPharmacy in ThailandS. Watcharadamrongkun1, P. Sookaneknun2, 1Faculty of

Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University,

Bangkok, Thailand, 2Faculty of Pharmacy,

Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham, Thailand

Engagement in community-based services and outreach

promotes pharmacy students’ understanding of commu-

nity needs and developing skill in addressing them. For

Thai schools of pharmacy, we:

1) Describe the number of classes and credits that

involve community-based services and outreach,

2) Describe students’ post-graduation plans for

engaging in such services, and

3) Explore relationships between curricular emphasis

and students’ post-graduation plans.

Methods: Data were gathered in October 2013 using

surveys of key-informants and students in pharmacy

schools in Thailand. Key informant surveys gathered

information about courses involving community services

and activities. Information gathered included number of

credits provided in five years, class subjects, teaching

process, and evaluation. Surveys of fifth-year pharmacy

students gathered their perceptions of community ser-

vices, including their confidence to work in a community

setting (on a 100-point scale) and plans to work in the

community after graduation (5-point scale; 1¼strongly

disagree to 5¼strongly agree).

Results: Data are presented from 16 of 18 (89%) Thai

pharmacy schools. Collectively, they offer 123 courses