Pharmacy Administration I

Pharmacy Administration 391
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FAQs

Q - How do I prepare for your exams?

A - As you will quickly realize there is a tremendous amount of detail in the information presented in this course. I am interested in your comprehension of the "big-picture". I don't particularly care if you know that the seminal article on pharmaceutical care was published in 1990, but I do think knowing the major outcomes of pharmaceutical care is important. Attending class does have its advantages as well. Questions on exams are sometimes slanted based on the discussions we have had in class. If you choose to not attend class or attend class and choose not to pay attention, you are placing yourself at a disadvantage. I have also taken the liberty of including instructional objectives for each of the discussions. These instructional objectives are stated in an open-ended form so being able to answer these questions should afford you the ability to answer questions in any of the presentation formats selected.

Q - What does it take to do well on the Field Assignments?

A - The first piece of advice to students regarding the Field Assignments is pay attention to detail. Make sure that you adhere to all of the requirements (e.g., title page, appropriate filename, all prompts answered, etc.). Most of the points deducted usually fall into these categories. Additionally, the quality of your discussion influences how your paper is graded. We already know what we think about the issues in the assignments. What we want to know is what YOU think!

Q - What's up with the grading scale?

A - At the end of many of your pharmacy school careers awaits a standardized licensure test. In order to pass this test and practice pharmacy one must attain the equivalent of a seventy-five percent. I have decided that this is not an unreasonable expectation of this course, but I have provided one point for safety margin.

Q - I work so hard on the Field Assignments, why are they worth so little?

A - The Field Assignments are not necessarily worth little, students just discount all the time they invest in other areas of the course. I expect about five hours of effort (on average) for the Field Assignments (some might take more time, some might take less). That amounts to 15 hours of total effort. Now let us consider the first exam as an example. The first exam is scheduled for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add to that your preparation time, the time spent in class and the time spent preparing for class and you will see the total rises dramatically. (1.25 + 5 + 15 + 45 = 66.25 hours) So in actuality, Field Assignments could be considered to be overvalued.

Q - Why are your Office Hours at such an inconvenient time?

A - During the Fall semester, I am responsible for courses involving P2, P3, and P4 students in addition to teaching in my department's graduate program and I have responsibilities to students enrolled in the School of Business Administration. I have selected Office Hours that minimize conflict with schedules. Please remember, I am also available by appointment. Just drop me an e-mail or call.

Q - Why don't you give back our exams?

A - The creation of exam questions is not easy. I have invested (and continue to invest) a lot of time and energy constructing questions that assess your knowledge of the course material at an appropriate level. Creating new questions each year (for the type of material covered in PHAD391) could result in frustration for both me and you. I do provide opportunities for students to view their exams and ask questions as to how they were graded, but request (require) that they remain with me.