title: My First Patient Program to introduce first-year pharmacy students to health promotion and disease prevention.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To implement and assess the effectiveness of a program to teach pharmacy students the importance of taking personal responsibility for their health.
  
  
  METHODS
  The My First Patient Program was created and lectures were incorporated into an existing first-year course to introduce the concepts of health beliefs, behavior modification, stress management, substance abuse, and nutrition. Each student received a comprehensive health screening and health risk assessment which they used to develop a personal health portfolio and identify strategies to attain and/or maintain their personal health goals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Student learning was assessed through written assignments and student reflections, follow-up surveys, and course evaluations. Students' attainment of health goals and their ability to identify their personal health status illustrated the positive impact of the program.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This program serves as a model for colleges and schools of pharmacy and for other health professions in the instruction of health promotion, disease prevention, and behavior modification.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Butler University, USA. cmaffeo@butler.edu
authors.forename: Carrie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maffeo
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chase
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tuohy
authors.forename: Iftekhar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kalsekar
mesh_terms: D001521:Behavior Therapy; D004512:Education, Pharmacy; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D040361:Healthy People Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013339:Students, Pharmacy; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders