Projects
The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is committed to providing free resources to pharmacy practitioners. The resources at the following link were developed in collaboration with the MEDIA team.
Visitors with a UNC Onyen can access the following programs that were developed with MEDIA.
Selected Projects
Pharmalliance: Communicating with Young People in Pharmacy Settings
Faculty Involved: Betsy Sleath, PhD
Visit site
This course explores two communication strategies that pharmacists can use to facilitate conversations with ALL of their patients, particularly young people. This course was a collaboration between Monash, UCL, and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
Why? Medication use is increasing rapidly among young people (ages 13-19) around the world. Young people often take an active role in managing their medications and assume increasing responsibility as they grow older. It is important, therefore, for pharmacists to feel comfortable communicating with this subset of the population about their medication use and health.
Year Completed: 2017
Platform: Mobile-friendly website
Learning Mode: Web-based modules
Target User Group: Pharmacy students
Process of Prescription Dispensing
Faculty Involved: Macary Marciniak, PharmD, Nicole Reitter, PhD
Visit site (onyen protected)
This course was developed as a just-in-time online learning module to guide students through the steps of prescription dispensing.
Why? This introductory module describes the steps in the prescription-dispensing process, from the time a prescription or order is received in the pharmacy until the product is ready for distribution to the patient. The module is intended to be used by students immediately before their first immersion experience. The module includes content for both community pharmacy and health-system pharmacy practice. Interactive scenarios showcase the processes a pharmacist follows to ensure the safety and accuracy of the medication-use process.
Year Completed: 2016
Platform: Mobile-friendly website
Learning Mode: Web-based modules
Target User Group: Pharmacy students
Electronic Medical Records
Faculty Involved: Denise Rhoney, PharmD, Amanda Corbett, PharmD, Rob Hubal, PharmD
The Electronic Medical Records (EMR) tool simulates real-world electronic medical records, such as EPIC. It includes virtual patients whose case histories are revealed over time. The EMR features a case editor that instructors can use to modify existing, and add new, virtual patients.
Why? Using a series of virtual cases, the EMR teaches students where to find important information in a patient’s EMR. Prior to the development of this tool, all training was paper based, with students not interacting with electronic medical records until going on rotation.
Year Completed: 2016
Platform: Interactive website
Learning Mode: Web-based tool
Target User Group: Second-year pharmacy students
Animated Modules for the PharmD course “Pathophysiology of Human Disease”
Faculty Involved: Carol A. Otey, PhD, Dennis Williams, PharmD, Jo Ellen Rodgers, PharmD
Working with both School of Pharmacy faculty and Carol A. Otey from the School of Medicine, we have developed a number of animated online modules for the first-year Pathophysiology of Human Disease course. These modules are designed to be a primer, encapsulating key subject areas that will likely become a focus of pharmacological research later in the students’ careers, such as bone health, Parkinson’s Disease, cystic fibrosis, and epilepsy.
Why? After viewing these modules, students will come to class with foundational knowledge that can be built upon with in-class discussions and practical applications. This approach is part of the School of Pharmacy’s curriculum transformation efforts. With a “flipped classroom” model, less class time is devoted to passively listening to lectures, and professors can utilize various technological platforms to facilitate a more active, dynamic learning experience.
Year Completed: Ongoing
Platform: Website
Learning Mode: Web-based modules, animations
Target User Group: First-year PharmD students
Comprehensive Chemotherapy Consultation Services
Faculty Involved: Jill Bates, PharmD
Visit site (onyen-protected)
Working with Dr. Jill Bates and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, we developed a three-part training program that includes patient education animations, pharmacology lectures, and videos demonstrating effective communication techniques for the doctor-patient interaction. My contribution was the patient education videos, which aim to deliver vital information about the goals of chemotherapy, possible side effects, and important requirements for proper post-treatment self-care.
Why? The goal of CCCS is to increase the efficacy of chemotherapy services, including the patients’ adherence to post-treatment recommendations, by focusing on the interaction between patients and their cancer care team. Specifically, the patient education videos are to be viewed by the patient on an iPad device, likely while waiting for a session at the clinic. The clinician can then devote one-on-one time to addressing any specific questions the patient may have, rather than providing the same broad overview to each patient verbally.
Year Completed: 2017
Platform: Website (tablet friendly)
Learning Mode: Web-based modules, animations
Target User Group: Chemotherapy patients
Foundations in Pharmacokinetics
Faculty Involved: Adam Persky, PhD, Gary Pollack
Link to Apple iBook
The web-based module covers the basic assumptions of drug disposition, absorption kinetics, dosing regimen calculations, hepatic and renal clearances, nonlinear and non-stationary kinetics, pharmacologic response, and a general mathematical review. This module was converted to an iTunes book in winter 2016, which features 272 videos, 59 embedded practices, 9 self-assessments, and 9 embedded review sections.
Why? Lectures are often complicated and content-heavy, which leaves very little time for the hands-on application of new concepts. Animated modules can be completed outside of class, leaving more time for the instructor to focus on the most complicated concepts during lectures.
Year Completed: 2017
Platform: Website (tablet friendly), iBook
Learning Mode: Videos, animations, quizzes
The Young Innovators Program at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is an early college access internship for promising high school students interested in STEM fields. This one of a kind program places students in active research laboratories on the UNC Chapel Hill campus and gives them the opportunities to participate in real, meaningful research projects. YIP Interns leave the program with laboratory experience, valuable work experience, and a deeper understanding of the possibilities a STEM education makes available. The video won three awards in 2017: 38th Annual Telly Awards Bronze Winner for Non-Broadcast Video – Editing, 38th Annual Telly Awards Bronze Winner for Non-Broadcast Video – Educational Institution, and 2017 Hermes Creative Awards Gold Winner for Public Relations Video.
Year Completed: 2016
Structural Genomics Consortium: 100&Change Grant Entry
Faculty Involved: Tim Willson, Ph.D.
As part of the grant application for the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change program, applicants must submit a video explaining their idea and its impact on society. This video was produced for this purpose, going from script draft to final product within a single business week. The video won five awards: four from the 38th Annual Telly Awards including Silver Winner for Non-Broadcast Video – Use of Graphics, Bronze Winner for Non-Broadcast Video – Videography / Cinematography, Bronze Winner for Non-Broadcast Video – Visual Effects, and Bronze Winner for Non-Broadcast Video – Low Budget; as well as the 2017 Hermes Creative Awards Honorable Mention for Fundraising Video.
Year Completed: 2016
UNC Eshelman Foundation Promo: ChemGLO
Faculty Involved: William Zamboni, PharmD, PhD, and Stephen Eckel, PharmD
Watch video
The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation sought to create a series of short promotional videos featuring research enterprises backed by the school that focused on complex problems. In this pilot we highlighted ChemoGLO, a company started by two members of the Eshelman faculty, that developed a solution to the problem of chemotherapy surface contamination and mitigation. The video won four awards, including the 14th Annual Interactive Awards Bronze Winner for Promotional Video, two 37th Annual Telly Awards Bronze Winner for Online Video for Fundraising and Public Relations, and the 2016 Hermes Creative Awards Gold Winner for Public Relations Video.
Year Completed: 2015