Diseminating a Tobacco Curriculum for Pharmacy Schools

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research shows that providing pharmacists with specialized tobacco cessation counseling training leads to significant increases in counseling activities. Although fewer than 8 percent have had formal training in tobacco cessation counseling, 87 percent are interested in receiving formal training, 70 percent believe that training will increase the number of patients that they counsel, and 94 percent believe that training will increase the quality of the assistance that they provide to patients (Hudmon et al., 2000). In response to this interest and lack of expertise, a group of pharmacy faculty members in California and leading tobacco researchers have created a 6-8 hour modular tobacco cessation counseling curriculum for pharmacy students, entitled "Prescription for Change: Pharmacist-Assisted Tobacco Cessation." The training, which has been incorporated as required coursework at all four California schools of pharmacy, equips students with the ability to intervene with all tobacco users-including patients who are not yet considering quitting. The program reaches nearly 600 students annually. Based on an enormously positive response to the program, we are proposing to disseminate the tobacco curriculum to other schools of pharmacy across the country. The specific aims of the project are to: AIM 1. Recruit two faculty members from each of the 81 U.S. pharmacy schools to attend a two-day train-the-trainer program, to be held in San Francisco, California. AIM 2. Provide faculty participants with sufficient knowledge and skills to implement the Prescription for Change curriculum at their schools. AIM 3. Attain a high level of curriculum implementation at pharmacy schools across the U.S. AIM 4. Evaluate the curriculum using a four-tiered approach that incorporates process and outcome measures. AIM 5. Publicize and make the curriculum materials available to other allied health professions, thereby minimizing the level of effort that others must expend in order to undertake a similar effort. The primary goal of this dissemination project is to provide pharmacy instructors with in-depth training, enabling them to effectively implement the Prescription for Change curriculum at their schools. Faculty and student support will be offered through a curriculum Web site, to be housed at and maintained by the UCSF School of Pharmacy. Curriculum implementation, utilization of the Web site, and impact of the curriculum will be evaluated. Incorporating comprehensive tobacco cessation training as part of coursework for pharmacy students will ensure that licensed pharmacists of the future will be well equipped, and effective, in addressing tobacco use issues with patients.