2017 年 43 巻 9 号 p. 525-531
To improve pharmacy practices, a pharmacists' journal club program to advance reading of clinical literature was examined. Pharmacists with careers longer than 5 years were recruited to be preceptors-in-training. The preceptor-intraining education program consisted of 16 hour-long blocks, once per week. The 1st to 7th blocks emphasized medical terminology. The 8th and 9th blocks focused on interpreting clinical literature using the ACCOMPLISH trial and a journal club guide (translated into Japanese by the first author). The 10th to 15th blocks were oral presentations by trainees who presented handouts and led discussions about an article of clinical literature that had been published in the previous 6 months. The 16th block, small group discussion, used the Kawakita Jiro method and the topic, “What is important for preceptors?”
Verification of outcomes of the journal club advancement program was performed with a pre- and post- medical terminology test (50 questions) and pre-and post-questionnaire (7-point Likert scale). Each trainee preceptor then taught 2 pharmacists in turn, and verified outcomes with the same test and questionnaire noted above. There were no significant differences in the medical terminology test scores between the pre- and post-program and it was clear that the preceptor education program was equivalent to the program in which educated preceptors taught pharmacists. Regarding the question of “AT THIS TIME, do you habitually read clinical literature?,” there is a significant increase in points between the pre- and post-program, suggesting that the program improves skills and contributes to improved pharmacotherapy.