Assessing Student Performance

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Cassie Peterson

Richard Skolnik – Author of Global Health 101

The end of the school year is the perfect time to think about how to measure the extent to which students have met your learning objectives.

To get a ‘fix’ on what students know when they enter my courses, I give an anonymous, ten-question pre-test at the beginning of the first class. The questions are based on a sample of questions from my last final exam and meant to cover the range of learning outcomes for the course. Despite the talents, knowledge, and experience of my students, they usually average around 3 out of 10 on the pre-test. These scores are a good indication of how much students have to learn from an introductory course on global health.

If I were a serious scientist, I would ensure that I ask exactly those same ten questions on the final exam and then compare the scores on the final with the pre-test. I admit – I don’t do this rigorously. However, I do include in the final exam a number of questions from the pre-test and other questions that get at the same issues.

In my undergrad introductory course on Global Health, the final course grade is made up of 15% for each of three policy briefs, 15% for a 30 question mid-term, and 40% for a 40 question final examination. Grading these IS a lot of work for the teacher. However, after trying a number of approaches, I have decided that this is the best mix of papers and tests to motivate my students and assess their performance.

My classes, as I have noted before, are completely interactive. I call on each student each class. Thus, I do NOT include a grade for participation in evaluating my students. In addition, I always worry that it is difficult to assess ‘participation’ in an objective manner.

One specific aim of my Global Health courses is to help the students learn to write Policy Briefs in a clear, concise, precise, and evidence-based manner. I assign three, five-page briefs to my undergrads and three, six-page briefs to my grad students, as discussed in an earlier blog. I grade the papers (now with the help of a TA who also reads them), on the basis of clarity, precision, the linearity of their argument, and the quality of their evidence. We read each paper and track changes and comments on each brief. The best indicator of the grade of a paper, as I tell the students, is how long it takes us to read it. ‘Good’ briefs are easy and fun to read. ‘Bad’ briefs are hard to read and require extensive editorial and substantive comments. In June, we will put on the Global Health 101 website some additional ‘model policy briefs’ written by both undergraduate and graduate students.

For the mid-term and final examinations, I give the students a ‘case’. This is a description of a low-or middle-income country. The ‘case’ is always called ‘Skolnikland’ and it is usually based on a country in East or West Africa or in South Asia. The students are asked to read the case and then answer a set of questions ‘based on the case.’

I try to write questions that test student mastery of key concepts and frameworks that we have covered in the class. I also write some questions that test knowledge that I would expect every Global Health student to have. The typical test could include questions like:

  • What is the distribution of the burden of disease in Skolnikland today, how would it have looked 20 years ago, and how might it look in 20 years from now, if present economic trends continue?
  • Besides perinatal conditions and congenital anomalies, what are the four leading causes of under-five child death in Skolnikland?
    • What would be the two leading causes of child death if Skolnikland were Bolivia?
    • What are four of the main pillars of the WHO recommended approach to addressing malaria in Skolnikland?
    • What are the ‘three delays’ that relate to maternal mortality? In Skolnikland, what is one measure you would take to address each delay and why would you take that action?

    In my first years of teaching, I gave short answer questions on my exams. I felt that these exams were an excellent reflection of student knowledge and thinking. However, they took an age to grade. Encouraged by my colleagues at The George Washington University (GW), I switched to a multiple-choice test. I was very worried that these tests would be too easy. However, I pre-tested my first examination of this type on one of my best former students and was pleased when she said how difficult it was. I do feel like multiple-choice tests give me less of a feel for student mastery of subject matter than short answer tests. Nonetheless, it may be worth this loss, since multiple choice tests get graded electronically and quickly, save me days of work, and allow me to get grades done on time. In addition, multiple-choice tests are more ‘objective’ than short answer tests and I lose less sleep about how ‘fairly’ I am grading when I give multiple-choice tests.

    Despite this, I switched back to short answer tests when I moved from GW to Yale. Some of the challenges of these types of test have been just what you would expect:

    • Students sometimes see things in your questions that you certainly never intended – even when you pre-tested the questions
    • It is sometimes hard to draw the line between an answer that is wrong and right, unless all of your questions allow only for very narrow responses
    • It is sometimes almost impossible to read the student responses!
    • Some students don’t understand the meaning of ‘short answers’.

    Over the summer, I plan to discuss these challenges further with former students and former TAs, with the goal of writing better tests. I am also considering distributing future tests by email, having the students answer in WORD, and telling the students the answers must fit in the space allocated or they will get no credit for them.

    I hope at the end of the fall semester of 2013 that I can report back to you on any new lessons I have learned about the challenges of testing.

    In the meantime, faculty can request access from Jones and Bartlett to model tests which are on the teacher’s portion of the Global Health 101 website.

    Thanks to Rachel Skolnik Light for her comments on the draft of this blog.

    Richard Skolnik is a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, where he teaches global health courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Richard was previously an Instructor in Global Health at The George Washington University, the Vice President for International Programs at the Population Reference Bureau, and the Executive Director of the Harvard School of Public Health PEPFAR program. Richard worked at the World Bank from 1976 to 2001, last serving as the Director for Health and Education for South Asia. Richard is the author of Global Health 101, a comprehensive, introductory text on global health.

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    Employability: If You Don’t A.S.K., You Don’t G.E.T

    Posted on May 6, 2013 by sharonb

    When we speak to students about careers in health care management, we often talk about the perfect storm we now have of demand for services and the retirement of baby boomers, leaving our health care system with a void of skilled workers. In many of these conversations, we are so enthusiastic about the market and availability of jobs, we have a tendency to overlook the obvious: the field needs well-prepared graduates who are employable.

    The March 2013 issue of Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice focused on employability and career success. The articles addressed such topics as transitioning from school to workplace, need for definitions of career success, developing employability, stigma and discrimination, focusing on the employer, and the role of “social/interpersonal compatibility.”

    According to Hogan, Chammoro-Premuzic, and Kaiser (2013), the definition of employability is “the capacity to gain and retain formal employment.” The authors created the RAW model (rewarding/ability/willingness) of determinants of employability from the candidate’s profile and the employer’s perspective:

    “Social/interpersonal compatibility so they can be rewarding to deal with.

    Abilities, expertise, know-how mean they are able to do the job.

    Ambition, work ethic, drive mean they are willing to work hard.”

    (Hogan, Chammoro-Premuzic, and Kaiser, 2013, p.12)

    On first blush, this model resonated with me. For over two decades, I have had the pleasant challenge of educating students to become competent, confident, and reflective practitioners. Years ago, I relied on the classic article by Katz (1955) on the skills of effective administrator, to inform and advise students about what they needed to be employable. Katz wrote three skills were needed:

    Conceptual skills (big picture and systems thinking)

    Technical skills (knowledge and expertise in a specific area), and

    Human skills (what we now call interpersonal skills). (Katz, 1955, p. 34).


    Although fifty-eight years apart in time, these two models are not that far apart in terms of what it means to obtain and retain employment. There is, however, a bit of a disconnect between health administration competency models and these models.

    While health care management speaks at great length about interpersonal skills, I fear these critical skills continue to receive short shrift in the curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The emphasis for many programs continues to be on coverage. Often, we are so frantic to make sure we check off all the boxes for the subject matter for professional development, we forget to reflect on the process of professional development. Moreover, while this process is frequently referred to as soft skills, I like to remind my students that interpersonal and process skills are darn hard to acquire and practice each day of our lives.

    We also need to ask our employers what they want and expect in terms of interpersonal skills for new graduates. A sampling of the research I have found on these “soft skills” indicates employers want:

    Emotional competence (Nelis, Kotsou, Quoidbach, Hansenne, Weytens, Dupuis, & Mikolajczak, 2011).

    Enthusiasm, dependability and team-working (Saunders, & Zuzel, 2010)

    Self-esteem and cultural competence (Potgieter, 2012).


    These researchers asked employers what they wanted. Using this as an example, the next step would be is skill acquisition. In addition to the internship, practicum, or capstone experience, who should teach and assess these skills? How should they be taught? How do we assess enthusiasm? Do we select only those students who appear to be enthusiastic, a trait perspective? Or do we assume this can be taught, a state perspective? What about self-esteem? Can we instill this in our students by providing scaffolded assignments with increasing levels of difficulty?

    Should we require health care management students to take the EI-360 and work with a coach if their emotional competencies fall below normal ranges? In case you are unfamiliar with work in this area, the literature indicates that managers who have strong emotional intelligence skills outperform those who do not, a good business reason to have these competencies (Cherniss, 2009). Broadly, Emotional Intelligence, or EI, encompasses self-awareness, self regulation, self motivation, social awareness, and social skills, and within each of these areas, specific skill sets (The Consortium on Research for Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, 2009). Supervisors, co-workers, subordinates and family members complete the online EI 360 instrument. Afterwards, a coach works with the subject of the EI 360. Having done this, I can tell you it is not an easy experience. It is analogous to having your gums scraped. Yet, if you want students to grow and become better leaders, then feedback and the reflective process that follows is critical for development. Is this something we should require our students to complete?

    How do we select the right subset of competencies within interpersonal competencies to address to improve our graduates’ employability? Here is my plan. We built our graduate program on a well-known competency model. I want to know more about the competencies our employers feel are most relevant to their needs. Using our competency model, I am going to A.S.K. my advisory board and employers which ones they want, and how they suggest our students acquire them. Then I will see what I G.E.T. After I have data, I will consider my alternatives, come up with a plan, and at the same time devise a way to assess my plan once implemented.

    Now, what’s your strategy to assess, address, and improve your students’ employability?

    Sharon B. Buchbinder, RN, PhD

    Sharon Buchbinder is Professor and Program Coordinator for the MS in Healthcare Management at Stevenson University in the Graduate and Professional School and former chair of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA). She is also the author of three books from Jones and Bartlett: Introduction to Health Care Management (with Nancy H. Shanks), Career Opportunities in Health Care Management (with Jon Thompson) and Cases in Health Care Management (with Nancy H. Shanks and Dale Buchbinder.)

    Here are some additional resources if you are interested in this topic.

    Buchbinder, Sharon B. (2009, July 29). Emotional intelligence and leadership. http://portfolio.jblearning.com/health/2009/7/29/emotional-intelligence-and-leadership.html

    The Consortium on Research for Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. (2009) The Emotional Competence Framework. http://www.eiconsortium.org/reports/emotional_competence_framework.html

    Cherniss, C. (2009). The business case for emotional intelligence. http://www.eiconsortium.org/reports/business_case_for_ei.html

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    Hogan, R., Chammoro-Premuzic, T., & Kaiser, R.B. (2013, March). Employability and career success: Bridging the gap between theory and reality. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 6(1), 3-16.

    Katz, R. L. (1955). SKILLS of an Effective Administrator. Harvard Business Review, 33(1), 33-42.

    Nelis, D., Kotsou, I., Quoidbach, J., Hansenne, M., Weytens, F., Dupuis, P., & Mikolajczak, M. (2011). Increasing emotional competence improves psychological and physical well-being, social relationships, and employability. Emotion (Washington, D.C.), 11(2), 354-366. doi:10.1037/a0021554

    Potgieter, I. (2012). The relationship between the self-esteem and employability attributes of postgraduate business management students. South African Journal of Human Resource Management, 10(2), 1-15. doi:10.4102/sajhrm.v10i2.419

    Saunders, V. & Zuzel, K. (2010, June). Evaluating employability skills: employer and student perceptions. http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/journal/vol15/beej-15-2.aspx

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    5 Star Review: Essentials of Human Disease, Second Edition

    Posted on May 1, 2013 by Katie Hennessy

    Essentials of Human Disease, Second EditionEssentials of Human Disease, Second Edition by the late Leonard Crowley, MD just earned a perfect score of 100 and 5 stars from Doody’s Review Service.

    Reviewer Steven K. Hamick, BIS, RCP, RRT, from William Beaumont Hospitals writes that it’s “still jam-packed with concise but well-written information.” In addition, this “excellent book,” he continues, “would be a valued asset in any program requiring a short course in physiology,” and a “terrific resource for public and college/university libraries as well.”

    The text, a consolidated and modified version of the hugely successful An Introduction to Human Disease, Ninth Edition, is designed for students who have limited time to master basic disease concepts.

    Read more review excerpts:

    “Each chapter begins with learning objectives followed by a brief review of anatomy and physiology of the organ system. The book provides a systematic survey of the pathology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and principles of treatment of specific diseases. Key terms are bolded and numerous images, tables, illustrations, and case studies illustrate the text. Each chapter ends with a chapter review, questions for review, supplemental reading (references), and interactive activities. This edition contains updates on ultrasound, HIV, the latest data and statistics, and includes new information on renal transplantation and BMI data from the USDA. The book also features an online companion.

    This is an excellent book, with an appealing layout and easy-to-read format. [It] would be a valued asset in any program requiring a short course in physiology, and would be a terrific resource for public and college/university libraries as well. With the sad and recent passing of Dr. Crowley, it is hoped that new authors will continue with future editions of this excellent book.”

    Interested in learning more? Visit our website.

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    Two Jones & Bartlett Learning Titles Selected by AUPHA for Bugbee Falk Book Award

    Posted on April 29, 2013 by Cassie Peterson

    Two Jones & Bartlett Learning titles were selected by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) for this year’s Bugbee Falk Book award. Basics in Health Care Performance Improvement by Donald Lighter and Integrating Quality and Strategy in Health Care Organizations by Sarmad Sadeghi, Afsaneh Barzi, Osama Mikhail, Michael Shabot were both chosen by the Board of Directors at AUPHA to be awarded to student recipients in recognition of their academic achievements.

    Established in 1972, the Bugbee Falk Book award celebrates the extraordinary contributions of Mr. George Bugbee and Dr. Isidore S. Falk to the development of health services and administration education. The award is presented annually and consists of several books for each recipient in order to help them begin to build their professional library.

    This year, students from seven healthcare administration programs have been recognized for their outstanding academic success. They include:

    About the selected texts:
    Building on the success of his previous text, Quality Management in Health Care: Principles and Methods, Dr. Lighter’s new book, Basics of Performance Improvement; A Lean Six Sigma Approach, is an ideal first course for students learning the basics of Lean Six Sigma, and its application in improving health care quality and patient outcomes. Ideal for both undergraduate and graduate level courses, the book also serves as an excellent reference for basic quality improvement approaches for QI professionals. To learn more, visit the catalog page.

     

    Integrating Quality and Strategy in Health Care Organizations examines the most successful processes for integrating quality into the strategic planning process through sophisticated quality measurement and monitoring systems. The authors present a framework that addresses all of the domains and dimensions of quality and their integration into the range of operational activities within the healthcare organization. Written for audiences in classrooms at schools of public health and healthcare administration, as well as executives and managers in healthcare organizations, this text also offers a thorough yet concise review of the current healthcare environment, the history of quality in general, and quality issues specific to the healthcare industry, as well as an examination of the parallels between financial performance and quality performance management. To learn more about Integrating Quality and Strategy in Health Care Organizations, visit our website.

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    New Podcast with Author Stacie Fruth Discusses the Essential “Purple Book”

    Posted on April 26, 2013 by Katie Hennessy

    Fundamentals of the Physical Therapy Examination: Patient Interview and Tests & Measures We recently interviewed Stacie J. Fruth, PT, DHSci, OCS, author of Fundamentals of the Physical Therapy Examination: Patient Interview and Tests & Measures, a unique text with companion videos that introduces physical therapy students to essential screening and examination techniques that form the foundation of their practice, across all body systems, and helps them develop clinical decision-making skills. Stacie Fruth gave so many insightful responses– even why it’s called the “purple book”– that we couldn’t wait to make the interview into a Podcast!

    Asked why she wrote Fundamentals of the Physical Therapy Examination: Patient Interview and Tests & Measures and developed the companion videos, Fruth said that,

    “I was teaching a course sequence that taught patient interview and basic tests & measures, and as a new faculty I went in search of a textbook, and I was quite surprised that I could not find what I was looking for . . . . I also thought it was important to include videos for as many of the tests & measures as possible so students could learn from watching the techniques multiple times.”

    Preview a sample video now:

    Since “many students enter a PT program having never held a reflex hammer, or never done a blood pressure,” Fruth points out that they,

    “…have a lot of anxiety about the first clinical and worry, ‘Am I going to do things right?’ Students can use these portable resources to prepare for their first clinical and maybe take the manual along to their first clinical. I wanted to give them a little confidence to have the how-to manual right there with them.”

    Fruth also discusses the importance of doing a patient interview, saying that,

    “You would be hard pressed to find a skilled clinician that didn’t think the patient interview is the most vital aspect of the patient examination; if you listen to the patient and watch the patient, many times they will tell you what is going on with them. To be able to do a really good patient interview is so incredibly valuable. [The text and videos] guide students through the exam and interview and the important components of the interview, and every student needs to learn the basic fundamental tests & measures. I don’t think there is a text out there that demonstrates how to do the step-by-step of how to do tests.”

    Can’t wait to learn more? Listen to the entire podcast or visit our website.

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    Upcoming Webinar: EHR Training for Health Professionals

    Posted on April 22, 2013 by Katie Hennessy

    Simulated Health Records SimplifiedAre you looking for an online simulated training program to introduce students to electronic health records? Join us on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 3:30pm EST or Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at noon EST for a webinar demonstration of Simulated Health Records Simplified, the EHR Learning Portal created and hosted by DataWeb, Inc.

    Simulated Health Records Simplified is a cloud-based EHR (Electronic Health Record) simulation that allows students access to four different pre-set roles within an ambulatory care setting. Students assume each role to learn all aspects of an EHR, and work with patient data to each role’s ability and permission level. Unique in its approach, it provides two seemingly dichotomous functions giving a consistent role-based user experience for all students completing a class assignment while simultaneously giving students the ability to interact with their own patients’ records.

    Register for the webinar on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 3:30pm EST or Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at noon EST to discover how students will gain an understanding of how their interactions with each of these major roles impacts Meaningful Use reporting:

    • Office Receptionist: Records a patient’s personal and payer information and checks in a patient for an appointment.
    • Certified Nursing or Medical Assistant: Records a patient’s vital signs for an encounter (appointment) and other medical history.
    • Doctor/Registered Nurse/Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant: Records and codes a patient’s medical procedure history and creates and signs notes and orders.
    • Practice Manager: Reviews patient records for billing/payer purposes.

    You’ll also learn about:

    • Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE)
    • Diagnoses based on ICD-9CM
    • Active Medication, Allergy and Immunization List
    • Security features based on DOCPM
    • Use of Drug/Drug Interaction Alerts
    • Secure storage of health information
    • Doctor’s Desk Top and other efficiencies
    • Electronic Signature
    • Reporting Student Performance Measures for the Instructor
    • Meets many of the Meaningful Use Criteria as established in the 2009 HITECH Act

    Don’t wait, register today for the webinar on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 3:30pm EST or Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at noon EST.

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    Teaching Tuberculosis

    Posted on April 8, 2013 by Cassie Peterson

    Richard Skolnik – Author of Global Health 101

    Despite substantial progress in reducing the burden of TB disease, TB remains the leading cause of curable communicable diseases in the world. It is estimated that about 8.7 million people fell ill with TB in 2011 and about 1.4 million people died of it that year. Any course on Global Health has to cover TB in a serious way.

    Fortunately, there are some wonderful resources for helping us teach about TB. USAID’s Global Health eLearning is a good place to start, with its courses on TB Basics and on Advanced Concepts in TB. The data in the courses is a few years out of date, but it is easy to complement that data, as noted below.

    Once your students have mastered the basics of what TB is, how it is transmitted, and who it effects, for example, the best place for pursuing TB further is the Stop TB website. This site has fact sheets about TB, the annual update on the epidemic, such as the 2012 Global TB Control Report, and a variety of other reports on specific TB topics. These include, for example, the Global Action Plan to Stop TB, and special reports, on topics such as TB in women, TB in children, drug-resistant TB and TB drugs. The site also has a database on the burden of TB disease worldwide.

    The Stop TB website also contains a host of reports and other materials to assist people in mobilizing communities around the problem of TB and advocating on behalf of TB. Two recent publications of importance about TB advocacy, for example, include a brochure on TB Reach, a program to expand the coverage of TB programs, and another on childhood TB, No More Crying, No More Dying – Towards Zero TB Deaths in Children.

    If you wish to pursue TB in greater depth, then you might want to look at the information on TB at the website of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The British medical journal, The Lancet, also publishes a range of articles and an occasional series on TB, such as they did in 2010 and 2013. The Lancet Infectious Diseases also published a series on drug resistant TB in 2013. Students who are seriously interested in the scientific and technical aspects of TB will want to refer to the website and publications of the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease. They can also take advantage of a new WHO app on drug-resistant TB.

    Partners around the world have been cooperating for more than 20 years to help address TB more effectively, and it will be important for students to learn not only about Stop TB, but also about the Global Drug Facility for TB Drugs. It will also be valuable for them to understand the work of the Green Light Committee, aimed at helping countries better plan and implement programs to address drug-resistant TB, including appropriate drug procurement.

    There is a TB vaccine, but it is not very effective. Thus, the world is working hard to discover a TB vaccine, which will, hopefully, be safe and effective against all forms of TB. AERAS is a non-profit company, located in the US state of Maryland, which leads that work.

    The world ‘celebrates’ World TB day every March 24, on the anniversary of the discovery by Robert Koch in 1882 of the TB microbe. This is an especially good time to teach TB and get access to a wide range of special TB resources.

    ACTION is a global health advocacy partnership that plays an important role in mobilizing interest in and action on TB. The ACTION website also contains a wealth of valuable information and tools on TB.

    There are, of course, many different ways to ‘teach TB’. One way that I enjoy … and I think the students enjoy it, too, is to role play. We act as if we were in a town in a poor country in sub-Saharan Africa. The country has a high rate of TB, a high rate of HIV, a high rate of TB/HIV co-infection, and a growing TB problem.

    We start the ‘epidemic’ with a student that we say has drug-susceptible TB disease. We ask her to breathe on the student next to her. We then ask what are the health outcomes for the student who was exposed to TB disease. From there we talk about latent TB, why it is so important, and the links between TB and HIV. We also talk about the spread of TB from person to person, among both HIV negative and HIV positive people.

    We then ‘complicate’ the scenario a bit further as we discover that: one can also get infected with drug-resistant TB, that children can get TB, and that you can get TB in many organs and not just the lungs.

    We follow that with a discussion of the approach to diagnosing TB, the challenges of present diagnostic techniques and the possibilities that the new diagnostic techniques will turn out to be cost-efficient. We then turn to discussing treatment options, the importance of directly observed therapy for TB, and what happens when patients don’t adhere to their drug regimens.

    Lastly, we talk about the challenges of achieving a world with “Zero TB Deaths,” including the value of better diagnostics, shorter course drug therapy that could work against all forms of TB, and a vaccine that would work against all forms of TB, as well.

    As you can probably tell, TB is one of my keenest interests. My paternal grandmother died of TB, I worked extensively on it at the World Bank, and was deeply involved in the establishment of Stop TB. In addition, ACTION was kind enough, with the help of STOP TB and the Eli Lilly and Company, to train me as a “TB Media Champion.” My hope is that even if you are not so experienced in working with TB, the resources noted above and comments about how I teach TB to undergraduates will be helpful to your teaching TB. This is a disease of exceptional importance. We have made some great strides against it, but we still have many more to make and, in addition, must face with urgency the problem of drug-resistant TB.

    Rachel Skolnik Light kindly provided comments on the draft of this blog.

    Richard Skolnik is a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, where he teaches global health courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Richard was previously an Instructor in Global Health at The George Washington University, the Vice President for International Programs at the Population Reference Bureau, and the Executive Director of the Harvard School of Public Health PEPFAR program. Richard worked at the World Bank from 1976 to 2001, last serving as the Director for Health and Education for South Asia. Richard is the author of Global Health 101, a comprehensive, introductory text on global health.

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    Pharmacy Practice and The Law, Seventh Edition is “Truly Outstanding”

    Posted on April 5, 2013 by Katie Hennessy

    Pharmacy Practice and The Law, Seventh EditionWe just received 4 stars and a score of 96 from Doody’s Review Service for our market-leading text, Pharmacy Practice and The Law, Seventh Edition, by Richard R Abood. Reviewer Albert I. Wertheimer, BS, MBA, PhD, from Temple University School of Pharmacy calls Abood “one of the top one or two experts in pharmacy law in the United States,” while declaring that the textbook is “truly outstanding.”

    Read more excerpts from the rave review:

    “The book covers just about any topic one might imagine in pharmacy practice and medication usage. Each of the eight chapters includes study scenarios, questions, and case studies. The chapters progress from macro to micro, with the earliest chapters covering state and federal law and the judicial system, before moving on to regulations on manufacturing, dispensing, and malpractice.

    The major audience is pharmacy students enrolled in pharmacy law or jurisprudence courses. In addition, the book makes an excellent reference for store managers and pharmacists already in practice in all settings. The author, Professor Abood, is one of the top one or two experts in pharmacy law in the United States.

    This book is truly outstanding, as one would expect with the benefit of feedback and reader suggestions from the previous six editions. This edition has new Medicaid and Medicare information and an explanation of the Affordable Care Act. In fact, all eight chapters have valuable additions.”

    Can’t wait to learn more? Preview a sample chapter right now or visit our website.

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    Discussion Boards: How Can We Improve Them?

    Posted on April 1, 2013 by sharonb

    If you teach in a fully online or a hybrid class, you know the Discussion Board, Forum, or Threads, whatever name they go by, are considered the “heart” of the online classroom. At least that’s what these vehicles for asynchronous discussions are supposed to be. When used properly, online discussions can be the epicenter of intellectual challenges and interactions between the students and the instructor. Participants can used their higher order thinking skills (HOTS), actively engage in the material, and be pushed to the next level of their career development. Or, in less exhilarating instances, students parrot back material from the text (sometimes not bothering to put in quotes), respond to the minimal number of other students, per the syllabus, and check off another item on their to do list to get through the course.

    If we want to engage students and have them apply the course materials to real world issues, we need to use real world material. In a previous post on wicked problems in healthcare, I noted these complex problems are messy, require input from multiple disciplines, and rarely have one correct answer. So, when we post discussion questions and receive a numbered list of answers straight from the textbook, even when quoted and the page numbers are cited, the problem lies not with the course rubrics and grading, but with the kinds of questions we are asking.

    Here are some suggestions for ways to make your Discussion Boards more useful, engaging, interactive, and applicable to the real world

    • Use a case study: A good case study does not have to be twenty pages long. In our new book, Cases in Health Care Management, Nancy, Dale, and I made a deliberate effort to keep the cases short. Unless you want to, you don’t have to retype them into your Discussion Board. You can refer the students to the particular case and the questions included in the case and tell them to respond to at least two of the questions in their initial post using current (<5 years old), peer-reviewed, scholarly articles for citations and references.
    • Have students provide cases or scenarios: As noted last month, it is one thing to analyze a case study, but to create a short story that embodies key issues in health care management is a greater challenge. If you want your students to stretch and grow even more, require them to provide an original case study to be used in a Discussion Board. I would make this a graded assignment. This is where students can demonstrate their writing competencies, and you can see if they need help. You can post the cases and have the students vote on which ones they think would be most interesting to discuss. This way you have engaged the students in creating the cases and in determining which ones will be used. An added bonus is they have a voice in the class material to be used.
    • Have students share “health care management factoids” with the class: When I taught freshman health, I required students to bring in a “health factoid” each week and share it with the class. Students culled the newspaper (yes, this is ancient history!) and read them aloud. They were not graded on this, but it was required. Now, you can have students search the Internet for cases in the news and post the link in a “Water Cooler” area that stays up throughout the entire course. Students should indicate why they thought the news story was germane to the course, and ask for other students’ responses. These cases ripped from the headline news can be excellent tools for students to connect their classroom knowledge with real world events.
    • Bring in an expert: Invite a health care executive to use one of the students’ case studies or have the expert provide a question or scenario for a particular week’s topic. Provide the executive access to the class as a guest lecturer and have the executive respond (along with you) to the students’ posts. The executive may very well respond with, “That’s a great textbook answer, but here’s how it really goes” much like Rodney Dangerfield’s first economics class.
    • Teamwork in the Discussion Board: I hear the shrieking now. Not teamwork, anything but teamwork! Using the case study template I provided last month (yes, it’s here this time, too) assign the students to work together in teams to address each section of the case study analysis. Do not allow the students to self-select. See my reasoning in last May’s post on teamwork in online settings. I would give them two weeks to get organized and post. I would also create rooms for group work, so you can monitor their meetings. You never know what you might see. Here’s an example of one of meeting that went south fast.

    And finally,

    Once again, here is the promised case study template for you to use with your students!

    Background Statement What is going on in this case as it relates to the identified major problem? What are (only) the key points the reader needs to know in order to understand how you will “solve” the case? Summarize the scenario in your own words—do not simply regurgitate the case. Briefly describe the organization, setting, situation, who is involved, who decides what, etc.

    Major Problems and Secondary Issues Specifically identify the major and secondary problems. What are the real issues? What are the differences? Can secondary issues become major problems? Present analysis of the causes and effects. Fully explain your reasoning.

    Your Role In a sentence or short paragraph, declare from which role you will address the major problem, whether you are a senior manager, departmental manager or an outside consultant called in to advise. Regardless of your choice, you must justify in writing why you chose that role. What are the advantages and disadvantages of your selected role? Be specific.

    Organizational Strengths and Weaknesses Identify the strengths and weaknesses that exist in relation to the major problem. Again, your focus here should be in describing what the organization is capable of doing (and not capable of doing) with respect to addressing the major problem. Thus, the identified strengths and weaknesses should include those at the managerial level of the problem. For example, if you have chosen to address the problem from the departmental perspective and the department is understaffed, that is a weakness worthy of mentioning. Be sure to remember to include any strengths/weaknesses that may be related to diversity issues.

    Alternatives and Recommended Solution Describe the two to three alternative solutions you came up with. What feasible strategies would you recommend? What are the pros and cons? State what should be done—why, how, and by whom. Be specific.

    Evaluation How will you know when you’ve gotten there? There must be measurable goals put in place with the recommendations. Money is easiest to measure; what else can be measured? What evaluation plan would you put in place to assess whether you are reaching your goals?

    Now, how do you plan to improve your Discussion Boards?

    Sharon B. Buchbinder, RN, PhD

    Sharon Buchbinder is Professor and Program Coordinator for the MS in Healthcare Management at Stevenson University in the Graduate and Professional School and former chair of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA). She is also the author of three books from Jones and Bartlett: Introduction to Health Care Management (with Nancy H. Shanks), Career Opportunities in Health Care Management (with Jon Thompson) and Cases in Health Care Management (with Nancy H. Shanks and Dale Buchbinder.)

    Here are some additional resources if you are interested in this topic.

    Buchbinder, Sharon B. (2009, September 17). Can we tame the wicked problems in health care? http://blogs.jblearning.com/health/2009/09/09/can-we-tame-wicked-        problems-in-health-care/

    Buchbinder, Sharon B. (2012, July 2). Writing Competencies: Whose Responsibility Is It? Available at http://blogs.jblearning.com/health/2012/07/02/writing-competencies-whose-responsibility-is-it/

    Buchbinder, Sharon B. (2012, May 7). Teamwork in online courses: How can we encourage effective participation? http://blogs.jblearning.com/health/2012/05/07/teamwork-in-online-courses-how-can-we-encourage-effective-participation/

    Conklin, J. (2008). Wicked problems and social complexity. http://www.cognexus.org/wpf/wickedproblems.pdf

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    Happy National Public Health Week!

    Posted on March 25, 2013 by Cassie Peterson

    The 18th annual National Public Health Week is quickly approaching, and is celebrated April 1-7. This year’s theme is “Public Health Is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money.” Uniting around this year’s theme, Americans and their communities are encouraged to take preventive measures to help improve their lives. Little steps can lead to big changes.

    The daily themes of National Public Health Week area great launching point for classroom discussion in introductory public health courses:

    • Monday: Ensuring a Safe, Healthy Home for Your Family
    • Tuesday: Providing a Safe Environment for Children at School
    • Wednesday: Creating a Healthy Workplace
    • Thursday: Protecting You While You’re on the Move
    • Friday: Empowering a Healthy Community

    Last year’s campaign theme “A Healthier America: One Community at a Time” received national attention. “A Healthy America” promotional video says it all – what strides public health has made thus far, and where it can take us – as a nation – in just one generation. For your undergraduates, or for anyone who is new to public health, this short clip is definitely worth a view:

    Introduction to Public Health, Fourth Edition | ISBN-13: 978-1-4496-9736-5

    Of course, there are more formal ways to introduce your students to Public Health. Jones & Bartlett Learning has a complete line of introductory texts, including the recently published Fourth Edition of Mary-Jane Schneider’s much loved, Introduction to Public Health. The author’s unique, engaging voice continues to shine through in this new edition. Qualified instructors can request a complimentary review copy today.

    To learn more about National Public Health Week 2013, to stay abreast of information and events and take action, visit www.nphw.org. To learn more about our Introductory Public Health texts, visit our website or contact your Account Specialist today.

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