On February 24, 2108, Prof. David Holdford, Department of Pharmacotherapy & Outcomes Science and Director of International Programs at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), USA visited the College of Pharmacy at Gulf Medical University to plan for collaborative initiatives between both institutions. During his visit, Dr. Holdford gave two presentations to faculty, pharmacists and students:
1) Complexity of medication nonadherence. 2) Sustainable Pharmacy Services.
When the first cohort of MCP students was in Semester 1, Prof. Holdford taught them how to use Patient-Reported Outcomes to Improve Care. Students reviewed assigned articles and watched videos before each session. The classes were conducted utilizing a distance learning approach and the sessions were live allowing full range of interaction including discussions, questions, and answers.
Most interesting of all, in Semester 2 of the MCP program, Prof. Holdford explained how to perform clinical pharmacy research in 2 sessions on May 6 and 8, 2019. Both the sessions started by explaining one of the research publications of Prof. Holdford with special emphasis on methodological aspects. The sessions included rich discussions on different research plans of the MCP students.
The MCP students commented “we are privileged to have international experts in the field as consultants to our master research projects. With this support, we are aiming to perform and publish high quality research that may advance clinical pharmacy in the region.