Background
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Last week you began learning about the drug utilization review (DUR) and how that ties into prescription drugs. For your discussion this week we will be looking at how the DUR ties into other types of drugs. Part of refill processing, prescription transfers, and Medication Therapy Management (Links to an external site.) (MTM) require that the technician pay close attention to the medications the customer is taking or asking about.

You will have an opportunity to become familiar with various types of drugs including:

Legend prescriptions – prescriptions that are controlled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are required to be administered by a licensed practitioner
Durable medical equipment (DME) – equipment that provides therapeutic benefits to a patient for specific needs including items like wheelchairs, oxygen equipment, or testing equipment
Investigational drugs (IND) – drugs that passed laboratory testing and have been approved by the FDA for human testing
Over counter items (OTC) – items that can be purchased by the consumer without the need to have the item prescribed or dispensed by a licensed professional
Understanding the various types of drugs, will dictate some of your responses to the customer as you work to educate them and utilize the DUR and MTM. As a technician it is important that we provide assistance to the pharmacist to ultimately serve our patients best interest, no matter what type of medication we are dealing with.

Below is a video that shows an interaction between a pharmacy technician and a customer. As you watch the video (0:18 min), think of how the interactions between all the parties take place and what actions are appropriate or not. Has the technician done their due diligence under the DUR for the customer?

Prompt:

Your initial discussion response will be comprised of two pieces:

a written response
a recording attachment (can be video or voice)
For the written response, discuss the DUR in terms of actions by the technician regarding the relevance to an OTC product and a patients MTM. Is Cortisone cream a proper treatment for everyone? The response should be a minimum of 150 words, with at least one formatted reference.

For the recording attachment, create a recording of yourself that is at least 1 minute in length as the technician addressing the patient and how you could have handled the situation differently (post in your initial post).

Remember that part of the discussion grade is submitting on time and using proper grammar, spelling, etc. You’re training to be a professionalwrite like it.

Select a journal article on the subject of supplements and write a 500700-word review of the article. You are encouraged, but not required, to use Senchina’s 2013 article “Athletics and Herbal Supplements. The media (newspapers, magazine articles, television news programs, and Web-based information sources) provide us with much of what we know about human biology. After taking a course on human biology, you might be interested in taking advantage of these resources for additional learning. Journal articles on a special topic are particularly informative, because they often go into depth and are a good source of current information, which you can use to continue learning or reviewing biology as a lifelong practice. Journal articles are a good source of information about current advances in a particular area of human biology, and they also highlight possible future advances in the treatment of certain conditions.

Yet, with so much information available in the media, it is important to understand how to evaluate the credibility of these sources. We have all seen questionable statistics presented in the media, or information that appeared to be biased, misleading, or even inaccurate. How can we be sure we are taking in information that is objective, thorough, and accurate? Although we may not be experts, we can do our best to be informed and critical evaluators of information.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 1: Describe the organization of the human body at increasingly complex levels.
Discuss how supplements affect cells and body systems.
Competency 5: Evaluate the objectivity and legitimacy of biology information found in articles and online.
Compare article with multiple sources of information about the same concepts.
Incorporate an analysis of sources into an article review.
Compare the main points presented about supplements, including specific areas of research and the findings.
Competency 6: Apply biological concepts to factors related to human health.
Examine the role of supplements in athletics and discuss why supplements are currently unregulated.
Interpret whether or not supplements should undergo more stringent testing.
Competency 7: Communicate effectively in a variety of formats.
Write coherently to support a central idea in appropriate format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics, including correct APA format and citations.

Cells, Tissues, Organs, and the Skeletomuscular System
Human biology covers all aspects of how the body is organized, how it operates, and how it changes over time, including what is normal and abnormal for the organism as a whole. Central to understanding human biology is the study of cells, tissues, organs, and the skeletomuscular system.

Read the Assessment 1 Context document for important information on cells, tissues, and organs.

Questions to Consider
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.

The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

Capella Resources
Click the links provided below to view the following multimedia pieces:

Assessment 1 Context.
Source Evaluation Form: Web Sites.
Source Evaluation Form: Journals and Books.

Asssessment Instructions
Select a journal article on the subject of supplements and write a summary paper reviewing the article. You are encouraged, but not required, to use Senchina’s 2013 article “Athletics and Herbal Supplements,” linked in the Resources, under the Library Resources heading, for this article review. Note: If you choose to review an article other than the “Athletics and Herbal Supplements” reading, you may need to do further research in order to fully address all of the topics required for this paper.

Address all of the following points in your article review:

What are the main points presented in the article? What message is the author trying to convey? What are the specific areas of research and findings that the article highlights?
How could the supplements discussed in the article affect cells and body systems?
How are supplements used in different areas of athletics? Why are supplements currently unregulated? Based on your readings, do you think supplements should undergo more stringent testing? If so, how would this be monitored and paid for? Where in your life (or in the life of a friend or family member) is it important that supplements are tested? Note: Your answer to this question does not need to apply only to athletics.
Crosscheck the information in your article with other sources. What do other sources say about the same concepts presented in the article? Are there discrepancies between the information from the article and from other sources?
Complete an evaluation of your article, using either the Source Evaluation Form: Web Sites or the Source Evaluation Form: Journals and Books, both of which are linked in the Resources under the Capella Resources heading. Download the appropriate form and answer the questions.
In an additional paragraph or two, answer the following questions:
Would you consider this article to be a credible source of information on this topic? Why or why not?
Formatting Requirements

Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: References and citations should be formatted according to APA (6th edition) style and formatting.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.
Length: Your paper should be between 500 and 700 words in length.
Format: Either submit both the Article Review paper and the completed Source Evaluation Form, or write a paragraph into your paper addressing the questions from the form.