Bossier Parish Community College

ASHP recognizes that well-educated and highly skilled pharmacy technicians have important roles and responsibilities in the pharmacy profession and that a safe and effective medication-use process depends significantly on the skills, knowledge, and competence of those pharmacy technicians. To properly fill these roles, pharmacy technicians require standardized education, training, and competence assessment. ASHP advocates that states encourage this education, training, and assessment through the development and adoption of uniform state laws and regulations requiring licensure of pharmacy technicians. Pharmacy technicians practice in a variety of settings and have diverse roles and responsibilities, ranging from those suitable for technicians meeting minimum requirements for education, training, and experience to complex, advanced, or specialized roles that require additional education, training, and demonstration of competence. Because pharmacy technicians are the foundation of pharmacy's distributive functions and are utilized in clinical functions where appropriate, pharmacy must strongly support the development of uniform education, training, registration, certification, and recertification of pharmacy technicians. Standardization will be required at all levels of pharmacy technician practice.

Mitochondrial impairment as evidenced by decline in adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) is associated with oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease neuropathology and suggests that mitochondria may fail to maintain cellular energy, through reduced ATP production in neurons. To gain insights into the ATP characteristics of Alzheimer's disease transgenic (Tg) mice, we investigated ATP contents in the brain and whole blood of Tg mice at three ages (1-, 5-, and 24-months old). Overall, our results demonstrate that tissue ATP contents in Tg mice are significantly reduced, suggesting a decrease of tissue ATP production and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Allied health program directors and administrators need to be aware of the costs and benefits of their clinical training programs to assure continued availability of training facilities for students. In a pilot study, program directors and administrators who are members of the National Network of Health Career Programs in Two-year Colleges (NN2) were surveyed concerning items to include in a cost-benefit-analysis tool, intangible and tangible costs and benefits of clinical education programs, and evaluation of a tool to analyze costs and benefits. Surveys were sent to 138 NN2 members, with 58 responding. Clinical sites were primarily in independent hospitals or health care systems. Most programs had preceptor-to-student ratios of 1:1-1:2, with few students being paid for clinical work. The respondents identified costs as staff time, materials and supplies, equipment, and others. Benefits were orientation and recruitment savings; increased professionalism, job satisfaction, and work quality of staff; ability to maintain and upgrade staff skills and knowledge; and student assistance with clinical coverage. Few programs were required to perform cost analysis. Allied health clinical education programs continue to depend on the willingness of health care facilities to accept students for clinical training.