Self-study program on drug information for staff pharmacists

A self-study inservice educational program on drug information resources was designed to improve staff pharmacist competence in responding to drug information requests. Pharmacists attended two introductory sessions in the drug information center (DIC) that focused on available resources and the systematic search process. Each pharmacist also spent an eight-hour work period in the DIC. Twenty-four hours of regular staff time was allowed for each pharmacist to complete a self-study manual. The manual consisted of three section: (1) discussion of selected references; (2) assignments based on common types of drug information questions; and (3) assignments that required the use of indexing and abstracting sources. Each pharmacist had to complete 50 questions during a 12-week period. The pharmacists were evaluated through pre- and post-tests and by the accuracy of answers to assignments in the manual. Six pharmacists initially participated in the program; five of them attained an average grade of more than 70 on the post-test and assignments. Three new staff pharmacists now have also completed the program. The success of the program depended on the support of pharmacy administration, as well as the motivation of the participating pharmacists. This staff development program using a self-study manual has been an effective means for improving pharmacists' use of drug information resources. The manual is flexible to accommodate differences in the rate of staff development and it is a useful training tool for new pharmacists.