A discussion of health services research looks at its nature, sources, funding, and use. The role of academic health centers as producers and users and as leaders in building future health care is examined. Their leadership in this area is seen as crucial, superseding other demands on academic health centers. (MSE)

Over 200 pharmacy students in a University of Georgia class on the American health care system engaged in debates on health care issues, discussed newspaper articles, conducted client home visits, analyzed county health statistics, and completed exercises on pharmacists' compensation and health care planning. Most participating students responded…

A graduate survey of 17 Doctor of Pharmacy programs collected data on the importance to the practice and the amount of time spent on each of 33 activities, and the resulting information was used to construct a profile of the average graduate's functions according to demographic variables and practice patterns. (MSE)

A study comparing a cross-sectional sample of pharmacy students to national norms for other student groups on the Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale indicates that curriculum development in sexual health would be necessary to prepare pharmacists as consultants in birth control and sexual health, a gap currently existing in health care services.…

Visits to colleges of pharmacy and to community and hospital pharmacies revealed that: pharmacy graduates seek employment in the pharmaceutical industry; pharmacy dispensers are PharmD graduates; physicians are the major drug dispensers to patients; little distinction is made between prescription and over-the-counter drugs; and drug laws are…

It is argued that the discipline of pharmacoeconomics has much to offer the pharmacy field during a period of health care reform but that these specialists must let their colleagues in related fields know how they can assist in facilitating change. (MSE)

Effectiveness of clinical pharmacy services is discussed through an analysis of the literature, an analysis of the funding of grant applications by the National Center for Health Services Research, and a review of the research component of doctoral programs in pharmacy. (MSE)

Only recently has emphasis been placed on pharmacy's role in public health planning, alongside other professional groups and government at all levels. The pharmaceutical profession is urged to join forces with these groups in the forefront of policy and program planning. (MSE)

The Planning and Implementation Committee of the Pharmacy in the 21st Century conference edited and condensed 375 issue statements generated by 7 workshops. Some 112 statements were presented to the conferees to develop a consensus of the conference on the importance of these issues as they will affect pharmacy in the next 15-20 years. (Author/MLW)

Issues in the conflict between clinical practice and basic research in pharmacy are reviewed: professional associations' role, curriculum needs and traditions, internal strains and diversity in the profession, computer use, scholarly work of faculty, using the medical profession as a model, and misperceptions of what clinical and basic sciences…

Pharmacists have a unique role to play in providing basic life-support since they are the health professionals who are most available and who enjoy the greatest contact with the public. Training procedures are described. (LBH)

The trend now driving American health care is that the payors are refusing to pay the true economic costs. Health care technology and the public's demand for it, the growth of managed care (Health Maintenance Organizations), and the need to increase the effectiveness of health care are affecting health care delivery. (MLW)

A 20-week experiential pharmaceutical training program was developed to meet the learning objectives of a traditional externship/clerkship program without the arbitrary separation of clinical activities from distributive and management experiences, and to provide understanding of the purpose of managed care practice and strategic planning process…

Proposes reorganization of professional pharmacy education to develop a group of practitioners at the contemporary practice level (baccalaureate degree) and a group at a level qualified to direct the profession's beginning states of advanced clinical service development (doctoral degree). Professional roles and teaching goals are outlined for…

Suggestions are made for reducing tension between clinical practice and basic research segments of pharmacy: develop mutual respect among all faculty segments, combine research efforts, modify the reward system for greater equity, increase physical proximity, share experiences through clinics and forums, and combine realism with tradition. (MSE)