Re: Rx for Pharmacy writing

[Eric Hobson <cfehh@eiu.edu>]

Sara, et. al:

Back from Indianapolis and a day's work with pharmacy educators on using
writing in their disciplinary courses and during medical and retail
rotations. Went well, and reveals as Neal has noted, the extensive and
expanding number of situations in which practicing pharmacists write.

For an intro to some of the literature on writing in pharmacy, I suggest you
start by looking at the following:
Hobson, Eric H. "Encouraging Self-Assessment: Writing as Active Learning."
Active Learning: Engaging Students in the Classroom. Eds. Charles
Bonwell and Tracey Sutherland. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996: 45-58.
Providing case studies from pharmacy administration and first-year
composition courses, Hobson demonstrates that writing is a useful tool for
helping students achieve the critical distance they need to begin to
critically evaluate their own work.

Hobson, Eric H. "Writing Across the Pharmacy Curriculum: An Annotated
Bibliography." Journal of Pharmacy Teaching 5.3 (1996): 37-54.
Provides citations and annotations for 46 books and articles appropriate to
pharmacy education's efforts to use writing as an active learning and
evaluation tool. 

Hobson, Eric H., & Kenneth W. Schafermeyer. "Writing and Critical Thinking:
Writing-to-Learn in Large Classes." American Journal of Pharmaceutical
Education.58.4 (Winter 1995): 423-27.
Discusses the incorporation of writing activities within a required 3-re
year pharmacy management course and presents an argument for incorporating
writing into large classes, types of assignments given, rationale for their
use, assessment methods used, and student reactions to the course.

Holiday-Goodman, Monica, & Buford Lively, eds. Writing Across the Curriculum
for         Colleges of Pharmacy. Toledo: University of Toledo COP, 1992.
Resulting from a GAPS project, this monograph presents a contextually
insightful assessment of the opportunities writing offers students within
the pharmacy curriculum and describes on-going university-wide and pharmacy-
specific efforts to enact writing as a central educational tool.

Maddux, Michael , Eric H. Hobson, Dimitra Vrahnos, Sheldon Holstad, Mary
Roth,         Tom Zlatic "Developing a Curriculum for Tomorrow's Pharmacy
Practitioners." Pharmguide to Hospital Medicine 9.1 (1996):1-12. 
Provides a detailed summary of educational changes underway at the St. Louis
College of Pharmacy, paying particular attention to the extent to which
writing instruction is central to achieving the institution's stated
educational outcomes.

Prosser, Theresa PharmD, Jack Burke, PharmD, Eric H. Hobson, "Teaching
Pharmacy         Students to Write in the Medical Record."  American Journal
of Pharmacy         Education. (Summer 1997). [It's available, but I've not
received a copy         yet.]
Reviews incorporation of a series of in-class and out-of-class writing
assignments in an upper division Primary Care Therapeutics elective intended
to provide students with opportunities to practice writing a range of
professional texts, particularly chart writing.


There's an eager audience out in the pharmacy community for help in making
writing a central and meaningful part of the curriculum. Neal Lerner and I
are currently working on an article on the topic which, once we finish
revising we'd be glad to discuss with anyone that's interested.

Eric Hobson

ps: Jane--your pharmacy colleague attended my session and was a useful
resource for the small group workshops. Keep training them well ;)
At 12:04 PM 7/14/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Thanks, Eric :)  
>
>I really don't know that much about what *kinds* of writing Pharmacy
>students do, or what kinds of writing Pharmacists do for that matter.
>Working with the students who are applying to the College of Pharmacy is
>has been interesting, because we get some sense of what kinds of careers
>people with Pharmacy degrees pursue, and that's a lot more complex than I
>would have assumed otherwise. But anything on writing in Pharmacy or how
>writing centers can work with Pharmacy students or advise their teachers
>on teaching writing  would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Sara
>
>On Mon, 14 Jul 1997, Eric Hobson wrote:
>
>> Sara:
>> 
>> Funny you should ask....
>> 
>> I'm off today to Indianapolis to lead a special session at the American
>> Association of Colleges of Pharmacy conference on writing in pharmacy
>> courses. I'll gladly discuss what I know on the topic and refer you to the
>> limited, but relevant literature when I get back home Wed.
>> 
>> What specifically would you like to know?
>> 
>> Eric Hobson
>> 
>> At 09:05 AM 7/14/97 -0500, you wrote:
>> >As I'm getting stuff together for our annual report and writing the thing,
>> >I realize that one thing we should be doing is improving our collective
>> >expertise as a writing center in science and related disciplines, one of
>> >which is Pharmacy. We have
>> >a college of Pharmacy here at UT Austin to which students apply once
>> >they've completed lower division courses, and we have worked with a number
>> >of Pharmacy students on application statements and class assignments.  I
>> >was wondering, however, if Neal Lerner, Eric Hobson, or anyone else who
>> >has worked with has any suggestions on sources of information on writing
>> >in Pharmacy.
>> >
>> >Thanks in advance.
>> >
>> >Sara Kimball
>> >UT Austin
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> 
>> 
>
>
>