Pharmacy Telehealth Services: Perspectives From an Academic Medical Center

Telehealth allows patients to receive healthcare with the aid of technology by overcoming physical barriers. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic created challenges with regards to in person patient care. The use of video visits and telehealth increased in a rapid manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this paper is to describe telehealth services utilized by pharmacists at a large, academic medical center. Pharmacists teaching and clinical services conducted via telehealth and remote methods in the inpatient and outpatient settings are discussed. The tools and platforms utilized for patient care, staff communications, and education are described. Telehealth is likely to remain in many clinical practices even after restrictions due to COVID-19 are removed; however, as we transition, a more sustainable model that includes faculty and staff development is needed. Additionally, clinical outcomes and patient and provider satisfaction for the varying visit types should continue to be examined. Although the switch to telehealth was rapid and unprecedented, it allowed a large academic medical center to continue providing patient care and learning experiences for most clinical pharmacy services.

What’s happening with women leaders in higher education: Understanding careers for women in the higher education sector of Pakistan

Despite funding opportunities to PhDs and Post-Docs, as well as various faculty recruitment programmes, there are still a number of issues facing academics in Pakistan, especially in building a successful and productive academic career. According to HEC Medium-Term Development Framework II, the HEC is still facing ‘low quality and lack of employability of college and private graduates; lack of appropriately qualified high quality research faculty for universities and lack of capacity for continuous faculty and staff development’. This study aims to provide evidence to support the development of informed strategies for career development for academics in Pakistani Higher Education Institutions, in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC). This paper delineates key findings and suggests strategies to promote academic careers and scholarship among faculty of HEIs with a specific focus on promoting women. Keywords: Academic careers, higher education, women leadership, mentoring, gender issues.

Writing Together to Get AHEAD: an interprofessional boot camp to support scholarly writing in the health professions

Background: Writing for publication is an integral skill for both sharing research findings and career advancement, yet many faculty lack expertise, support, and time to author scholarly publications. Health professions educators identified writing as an area in which a new educators’ academy could offer support.Case Presentation: To address this need, a writing task force was formed consisting of a librarian, a School of Medicine faculty member, and a School of Nursing faculty member. The task force launched two initiatives to motivate and support faculty writing and publication over two academic years. In the first year, a structured interprofessional “boot camp” consisting of a sequenced, modularized approach to manuscript completion was offered. In the second year, community building, in-person writing sessions, and incentives were added to the structured tasks. In year one, twenty participants enlisted in the boot camp, nine of whom completed a manuscript for submission by the end of the program. Qualitative feedback indicated potential improvements, which were put in place in the second program. In year two, twenty-eight participants enrolled, and eleven submitted thirteen manuscripts for publication by the end of the program.Conclusions: Structured tasks, frequent deadlines, and professional editorial assistance were highly valued by participants. Time remains a barrier for faculty seeking to complete manuscripts. As experts in many facets of the publication process, librarians are well positioned to partner with others to facilitate faculty and staff development in writing.