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- Wallman, Andy, 1975-
(författare)
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Pharmacy Internship : Students’ Learning in a Professional Practice Setting
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis was to explore Swedish pharmacist students’ learning during pharmacy internship. Internships are meant to introduce students to professional practice. Education programs have to reflect changes in the professional role, and take into account that learning in a professional practice setting differs from organized formal education. This thesis includes both quantitative and qualitative research approaches and applies workplace learning theories. A scheme for measuring pharmacy students’ reflective ability was developed and shown to be feasible and reliable. Factors important for reflection were found to be primarily social and contextual, especially trained tutor and small pharmacy size. Notably, learning style or critical thinking did not correlate to students’ reflective ability. Tutors and students perceived that students used a wide variety of activities supporting learning of a broad repertoire of knowledge and skills, preparing them for coming professional working life. Tutors are most important to support learning. However, the current curriculum and formal activities do not address all these outcomes and learning activities used, e.g. workplace learning. The first overall conclusion is that internship plays an essential part in the pharmacist education program. The integration of formal and informal learning activities during internship, including raising awareness of incidental learning, is important to support students in learning the professional practice of pharmacy. This integration could possibly be strengthened by introducing further tutor training, different assignments, and by using portfolios. The second conclusion is that the community of practice is essential for students’ learning during internship, especially the student-tutor interaction. Hence, the entire social context has to be considered and it is important to ensure a good learning environment at pharmacies during internship. In summary, this thesis contributes to the understanding of students’ learning during pharmacy internship and introduces educational research on the Swedish undergraduate pharmacy education programs.
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| 2. |
- Södergård, Björn, 1973-
(författare)
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Adherence and Readiness to Antiretroviral Treatment
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Antiretroviral therapy places extraordinarily high demands on adherence, since non-adherence affects both individuals and society due to the spread of resistant viral strains. The aims of the thesis were to investigate the prevalence of adherence in Swedish HIV-infected patients, changes in adherence over time, and factors associated with adherence, including patients’ readiness to adhere. Further, to investigate the collaboration between nurses, doctors and pharmacists after the introduction of a HIV-clinic satellite pharmacy. Data were collected via two cross-sectional patient surveys in 1998 and 2002, qualitative interviews with health care personnel at a major HIV clinic, and a nation-wide, cross-sectional patient survey in 2003-2004. The level of adherence improved from 28% in 1998 to 57% in 2002, possibly due to simplified treatment and a new multi-professional treatment model at the clinic. The proportion of adherent patients was 63% in the nationwide survey. Factors associated with adherence were high age, high quality patient-provider relationships, no drug or alcohol problems and shorter time on treatment. A hypothesized structural equational model, using readiness and adherence as separate latent concepts, was tested and found to support readiness as a distinct factor influencing adherence. The health care personnel believed that conventional pharmacies had several disadvantages in serving the HIV infected population. They found the HIV-clinic satellite pharmacy valuable, since it contributed to increased communication and trust between the health care professions, and improved teamwork in medication management.In conclusion, the level of adherence increased over time, and several factors associated with adherence were identified. Improved collaboration between health care professionals may enhance treatment support, and increased attention should be given to interventions that focus on the individual’s readiness for behavioural change in order to optimize treatment outcomes.
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