Dr. Krishna Kumar is professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics at the College of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington DC and Adjunct Faculty, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSS AHER), Mysuru. His research interests include Characterization of biomarkers and developing epigenetic profile of African Americans as related to hypertension, cancer and other chronic diseases, Nano-particles as intelligent tools for Nano-medicine, use of these vehicles for delivery of anti-cancer drugs and anti HIV drugs, formulation of dosage forms, bioavailability and bioequivalence, and population Pharmacokinetic modeling and has visited JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS AHER, Mysuru, on 14 – 15, October 2019 to deliver series of guest lectures in Programmatic Assessment, Curriculum Mapping and career opportunities for the benefit of the Faculty members, Pharm. D and Postgraduate students of Pharmacy Practice, at JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysuru. During his stay, he has attended the foundation laying ceremony of JSS AHER at Varuna Campus. On Day one, i.e. 14-Oct-2019, Dr. Sri Harsha Chalasani, Lecturer, Dept. of Pharmacy Practice received Dr. Krishna Kumar and proceeded to meet Dr. T. M. Pramod Kumar, Principal, JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysuru. After this brief conversation, Dr. Kumar was accompanied to the Department of Regulatory Affairs by Dr. T. M. Pramod Kumar and Dr. P. K. Kulkarni, Vice Principal, JSS College of pharmacy, Mysuru to the meet and greet with the college faculty members. Dr. Krishna Kumar delivered a talk to the Faculty members at Regulatory Affairs Seminar hall on the topic “How to Become a Good Communicator – Civility in Work Place”. Wherein, the civility of the work place, its hindrances and facilitators were discussed with case based studies. A questionnaire titled “Building resiliency through personality assessment” was administered to the attended staff members and was asked to introspect on the outcomes. He said, It’s often small incidents – like complaining about someone to everyone else without telling the person directly, or being short in conversation or rude in an email – that can do the most damage and quickly spread throughout a business like a virus. Further, he mention when civility slips into political correctness, real issues about differences are subsumed and glossed over. When free-speech slips into a license-to-insult, conversation enters a spiral of attack and defend and being civil doesn’t trample on anyone’s rights. We can still have frank, honest, and even heated conversations without insulting, demeaning, or intimidating others. It does require, however, self-discipline and personal accountability, conscientiousness, empathy, and respect. This, deliberation has lasted for about two hours and delivered in eight modules covering various sensitive elements in the day to day work life and how to resolve them at the best. Review questions were posed throughout the interactive session. Following the lunch, Dr. Krishna Kumar delivered another lecture titled “How to Become a Good Communicator – Civility in Work Place” which lasted for 2 hours to the fifth Pharm. D students in the Pharmacy Practice Seminar Hall, Department of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy. Here in this deliberations, students were told on how to improve their sense of civility at their work places and the importance of Political correctness, non-judgemental attitude and work etiquette were emphasised. The topic was well received by the students and ended with an interactive question answer session. On day two Dr. Krishna Kumar explained process of curricular mapping to the faculty at RA seminar Hall, JSS College of Pharmacy. Curriculum mapping is a process for collecting and recording curriculum-related data that identifies core skills and content taught, processes employed, and assessments used for each subject area and grade level. The completed curriculum map then becomes a tool that helps teachers keep track of what has been taught and plan what will be taught. Curricular mapping involves following steps or process: ? Data collection. ? A review of all maps by all teachers. ? faculty members share individual findings ? Faculty members examine the findings. ? Identification and creation of a timetable. The purpose of a curriculum map is to document the relationship between every component of the curriculum. This is used as an analysis, communication, and planning tool, a curriculum map ? allows teachers to review the curriculum to check for unnecessary redundancies, inconsistencies, misalignments, weaknesses, and gaps; ? documents the relationships between the required components of the curriculum and the intended student learning outcomes; ? helps identify opportunities for integration among disciplines; ? provides a review of assessment methods; and ? Identifies what students have learned, allowing educators to focus on building on previous knowledge. Curriculum maps are records of implemented instruction -- of what has been taught during the current academic year and what will be covered in the future. He also described the process programmatic evaluation. Evaluating and improving the college performance is essential for the continuing success. Programmatic evaluation analyses the extent to which the college achieves its overall mission and goals, including research and other scholarly activities, service and practice. This is complemented by educational assessment which analyses outcomes of the program, focusing on assessment of student learning and evaluation of curricular effectiveness. Both are undertaken as part of systematic improvement efforts. He emphasized on the principles that guide each of these processes, outlines how these processes connect to other activities and groups within the college and identifies who holds responsibility for deciding upon and for carrying out specific activities In the afternoon, Dr. Krishna Kumar has travelled to Department of Clinical Pharmacy, JSS Hospital and interacted with the Pharm D Interns and Post Graduate – Pharmacy Practice students. In this one to one interaction session, Dr. Kumar spoke about career opportunities with the Pharm D and Pharmacy Practice courses. How are the current job opportunities in India, especially the practice oriented jobs and in United States of America. This session has ended with question and answer session. Students had a useful dialogue in understanding how the job opportunities vary and how to be competent to get one. Dr. Krishna Kumar then moved back to JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysuru to conclude his visit to India.
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