On Monday, May 26th 2014, the Kuwait University president Prof. Abdullateef Al-Bader honored a constellation of distinguished researchers at various events organized by the Research Sector. Dr. Maitham Khajah from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics was awarded the “Best Young Researcher Award” for the academic year 2013-2014.
In September, 2014, the MSc. program in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Faculty of Pharmacy was implemented. It is structured to prepare highly educated and specialized pharmacists, who are capable to contribute to the different pharmaceutical fields in Kuwait. Moreover, the program is designed to prepare highly dynamic, motivated and self-dependent researchers, who are capable of pursuing higher studies. The first batch enrolled in the program consisted of five qualified B-Pharm students. The study duration is 2-3 years and comprises a course-work of 21 credits and thesis-work of 9 credits. The thesis topics range from pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutics, or pharmacology and therapeutics. The program is considered as the first multidisciplinary graduate program in the area of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Kuwait.
In an effort to develop teaching and assessment methods in the department of Pharmacy Practice, the use of standardized patients (SPs) in the education of our pharmacy students was proposed. This led to the development and implementation of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) being introduced to the final year curriculum in the Faculty of Pharmacy. Following 9 months of preparation and validation of clinical stations, the OSCE was piloted on 56 students in October 2014. OSCE is comprised of a series of stations that are based on real life scenarios related to pharmacy practice that meet the learning outcomes of the course and include materials covered in the Pharmacy Practice courses in the previous years of study. In each station, students will be provided a simulated task or problem designed to test competency. The OSCE stations are categorised as interactive or non-interactive. Interactive stations will typically involve the use of standardised patients. An interactive stations will involve observing and assessing students by a trained assessor using a standardised marking key. Non-interactive stations involve the submission of a written report, which is then assessed according to a predetermined grading scheme.
Simulation has been used increasingly in pharmacy education in recent years. Properly conducted, simulation creates an ideal educational environment where learning activities can be made to be predictable, consistent, standardized, safe, and reproducible. This environment encourages learning through experimentation with the ability to rewind, rehearse, and practice without negative patient outcomes. The Faculty of Pharmacy has included simulation in its curriculum in the form of standardized patients, and part task simulators. Since April 2014, a high-fidelity mannequin simulator (SimMan® 3G) has been used to replicate clinical, real-life scenarios in a controlled environment. The clinical skills laboratory (CSL) is located in the Health Science Centre, Faculty of Pharmacy, Laboratory number 169 – second floor. It aims to mimic a hospital ward environment. The main goal of the CSL is to replicate patient care scenarios in a realistic environment for the purposes of learning, feedback and assessment.
In September 2014, the Pharmacy Practice Department formally established the first Drug Information Center (DIC) at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Kuwait with a vision to be recognized as the leading agency in Kuwait for the provision of drug information, education and training, and consultation on the prevention and management of drug-related problems and medication errors. Its purpose is to serve as a focal point for drug information services, support healthcare professionals in providing therapeutic and pharmaceutical advice, disseminate information in the form of drug monographs, formularies, bulletins and websites, plan educational programs and provide training to graduate and undergraduate students as an aspect of overall clinical training.
Dr. Dalal Al-Taweel from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Practice was awarded the “Best Professional Poster Award” at the 5th Pharmaceutical Care Conference (11-12 Feb 2015) held in Muscat, Oman, for her poster entitled “Design and Validation of a Medication Assessment Tool to Evaluate the Quality of Medication Use in the Management of Bipolar Disease in Kuwait”.