About

Sarah McBane is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor at the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences at UC Irvine. She holds a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Guilford College (1998) and a Pharm.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2003). Her research interests include collaborative practice models, comprehensive medication management, women’s health, tobacco/nicotine use, diabetes, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dr. McBane has received numerous professional distinctions, including Pharmacist of the Year by the California Pharmacists Association in 2019, the California Chronic Care Coalition Stars of Advocacy Award in 2016, and the National Community Pharmacists Association Leadership Award in 2015. She has contributed to the field through various publications on pharmacy practice transformation, medication use, tobacco cessation, drug selection during pregnancy and lactation, and contraceptive developments. Her work emphasizes advancing pharmacy practice, medication management, and patient-centered care within the healthcare system.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Nursing
• Political Science
• Medical education
• Computer Science
• Psychology
• Internal medicine
• Endocrinology
• Mathematics education
• Pedagogy
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Self-injection experiences among transgender people on injectable gender-affirming hormone therapy: A narrative review

  Journal of the American Pharmacists Association · 2025-04-27 · 1 citations

  reviewOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Education and Training of Today's Clinical Pharmacist

  JACCP JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CLINICAL PHARMACY · 2025-08-12

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT Today's clinical pharmacists have graduated from a doctor of pharmacy professional degree program, completed residency training, and obtained board certification. Their foundational education consists of an extensive didactic and experiential curriculum with a strong focus on pharmacology and pharmacotherapeutics. The credit hours devoted to pharmacology and pharmacotherapeutics are substantially greater than those of other health care professional degree programs. When combined with the clinical learning acquired through formal, postgraduate residency training, clinical pharmacists are well prepared to address medication therapy problems and serve as essential members of interprofessional health care teams. This commentary details the education and training of clinical pharmacists and how these compare with other members of the health care team and concludes that clinical pharmacists are uniquely positioned to optimize medication outcomes.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Pharmacotherapy of Chronic Neuropsychiatric Conditions During Pregnancy

  Nursing for Women s Health · 2024-05-01 · 2 citations

  review
  PublisherDOI

• 2023 update to the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Pharmacotherapy Didactic Curriculum Toolkit

  JACCP JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CLINICAL PHARMACY · 2024-02-29 · 46 citations

  articleOpen access

  Introduction: The American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Pharmacotherapy Didactic Curriculum Toolkit has been used by colleges and schools of pharmacy as a guide for curricular development and revisions since its inaugural publication in 2009. The toolkit was last revised and updated by the 2019 Publications Committee. Objectives: The 2023 ACCP Publications Committee was charged with reviewing the 2019 Update to the ACCP Pharmacotherapy Didactic Curriculum Toolkit to determine any necessary revisions/updates. Methods: The committee revised tier classifications, shifting the focus of the 2023 toolkit to content within the Pharm.D. curriculum. Multiple literature sources were reviewed to assess conditions for inclusion in the 2023 toolkit, and external feedback was solicited from various practice disciplines. All topics were voted on by a simple majority rule during virtual meetings or by electronic votes. Results: There are a total of 231 topics in the 2023 toolkit, a decrease of 77 (23.2%) from the 2019 edition. Topics in each tier are as follows: 68 as tier 1 (29%), 111 as tier 2 (48%), and 52 as tier 3 (23%). Although some topics were removed completely, others were combined with other line items or revised, which may further minimize curricular overload. Similar to the 2016 and 2019 toolkits, many tier 2 topics remain in the 2023 toolkit, emphasizing the continued need for additional training through postgraduate residencies or fellowships (or "on-the-job" equivalent experiences), board certifications, and various certificate training programs. Conclusion: The 2023 ACCP Pharmacotherapy Didactic Curriculum Toolkit is designed to assist individual faculty and colleges and schools of pharmacy with curricular development and revisions. It will continue to be reviewed every 3 years to identify needed revisions on the basis of the pharmacist's evolving role, advances in therapeutics and pharmacy practice, and changes to accreditation standards and recognized professional competencies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Digital Innovation to Grow Quality Care Through an Interprofessional Care Team (DIG IT) Among Underserved Patients With Hypertension

  The Annals of Family Medicine · 2024-09-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  <h3>PURPOSE</h3> The impact of digital health on medically underserved patients is unclear. This study aimed to determine the early impact of a digital innovation to grow quality care through an interprofessional care team (DIG IT) on the blood pressure (BP) and 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score of medically underserved patients. <h3>METHODS</h3> This was a 3-month, prospective intervention study that included patients aged 40 years or more with BP of 140/90 mmHg or higher who received care from DIG IT from August through December 2021. Sociodemographic and clinical outcomes of DIG IT were compared with historical controls (controls) whose data were randomly extracted by the University of California Data Warehouse and matched 1:1 based on age, ethnicity, and baseline BP of the DIG IT arm. Multiple linear regression was performed to adjust for potential confounding factors. <h3>RESULTS</h3> A total of 140 patients (70 DIG IT, 70 controls) were included. Both arms were similar with an average age (SD) of 62.8 (9.7) years. The population was dominated by Latinx (79.3%) persons, with baseline mean BP of 163/81 mmHg, and mean ASCVD risk score of 23.9%. The mean (SD) reduction in systolic BP at 3 months in the DIG IT arm was twice that of the controls (30.8 [17.3] mmHg vs 15.2 [21.2] mmHg; <i>P</i> &lt;.001). The mean (SD) ASCVD risk score reduction in the DIG IT arm was also twice that of the controls (6.4% [7.4%] vs 3.1% [5.1%]; <i>P</i> = .003). <h3>CONCLUSIONS</h3> The DIG IT was more effective than controls (receiving usual care). Twofold improvement in the BP readings and ASCVD scores in medically underserved patients were achieved with DIG IT.

  PublisherDOI

• Fueling Student Success by Design and Deployment of the Student Achievement and Responsive Teaching Program

  American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education · 2023-08-01

  articleOpen access

  Characterize the impact of an early identification and intervention system on student remediation needs in a new PharmD program.

  PublisherDOI

• An overview of Instructional approaches and decision-making strategies to curtail curricular overload

  American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education · 2023 · 34 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Medical education
  • Medicine

  OBJECTIVES: Curriculum overload often occurs when content is kept in the curriculum that may no longer be necessary to prepare students for professional practice. The overload becomes compounded by the addition of new content from the ever-changing professional practice needs and updates to accreditation standards. Challenges may occur when programs must first determine the "level" of proficiency a new graduate should attain and then determine the appropriate breadth and depth of educational outcomes in relation to proficiency, while examining what content should be retained from past curricula. Thus, the purpose of this manuscript is to summarize institutional approaches for making content delivery more effective and efficient with the goal of curtailing curriculum expansion. FINDINGS: Four key elements were consistently identified in the literature as important considerations to address curriculum overload - 1) communication and coordination among faculty, 2) incorporation of active learning strategies, 3) effective utilization of technology, and 4) minimizing faculty and student workload and cognitive burden. SUMMARY: Each pharmacy program will need to take an individualized approach in addressing curriculum overload; however, consideration of the aforementioned key elements can assist in making these decisions. With increased student engagement in the classroom, intentional design to reduce content and student workload, enhanced communication among faculty, and appropriate technology utilization, curriculum overload can be addressed at every level of pharmacy education.

  PublisherDOI

• Using Machine Learning to Develop a Clinical Prediction Model for SSRI-associated bleeding: a feasibility study

  Research Square · 2023-01-10

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Pharmacist-Managed Refill Service Impacts on Clinician Workload and Medication Interventions in a Federally Qualified Health Center

  Journal of Primary Care & Community Health · 2023-01-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: Increasing administrative workload is linked with lower quality of patient care and physician burnout. Conversely, models involving pharmacists can positively impact patient care and physician well-being. Research has consistently demonstrated that pharmacist-physician collaboration can improve outcomes for chronic diagnoses. Pharmacist-managed refill services may improve provider workload measures and clinical outcomes. METHODS: This was an evaluation of a pharmacist-managed refill service at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Under collaborative practice agreement, pharmacists addressed refill requests and recommended interventions. Data analysis evaluated effectiveness of the model, including clinical interventions, and involved descriptive statistics and qualitative approaches. RESULTS: Average patient age was 55.5 years old and 53.1% were female. Turnaround time was within 48 h for 87.8% of refill encounters. During an average of 3.2 h per week, pharmacists addressed 9.2% (n = 1683 individual requests in 1255 indirect patient encounters) of the total clinic refill requests during the 1-year study period. In 453 of these encounters (36.1%), pharmacists recommended a total of 642 interventions. 64.8% of these were need for appointment (n = 211) or labs (n = 205). Drug therapy problems and medication list discrepancies were identified in 12.6% (n = 81) and 11.9% (n = 76) of encounters, respectively. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study are consistent with previous literature demonstrating the value of interprofessional collaboration. Pharmacists addressed refills in an efficient, clinically effective manner in an FQHC setting. This may positively impact primary care provider workload, patients' medication persistence, and clinical care.

  PublisherDOI

• Using machine learning to develop a clinical prediction model for SSRI-associated bleeding: a feasibility study

  BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making · 2023-06-10 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: Adverse drug events (ADEs) are associated with poor outcomes and increased costs but may be prevented with prediction tools. With the National Institute of Health All of Us (AoU) database, we employed machine learning (ML) to predict selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)-associated bleeding. METHODS: The AoU program, beginning in 05/2018, continues to recruit ≥ 18 years old individuals across the United States. Participants completed surveys and consented to contribute electronic health record (EHR) for research. Using the EHR, we determined participants who were exposed to SSRIs (citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, vortioxetine). Features (n = 88) were selected with clinicians' input and comprised sociodemographic, lifestyle, comorbidities, and medication use information. We identified bleeding events with validated EHR algorithms and applied logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, and extreme gradient boost to predict bleeding during SSRI exposure. We assessed model performance with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve statistic (AUC) and defined clinically significant features as resulting in > 0.01 decline in AUC after removal from the model, in three of four ML models. RESULTS: There were 10,362 participants exposed to SSRIs, with 9.6% experiencing a bleeding event during SSRI exposure. For each SSRI, performance across all four ML models was relatively consistent. AUCs from the best models ranged 0.632-0.698. Clinically significant features included health literacy for escitalopram, and bleeding history and socioeconomic status for all SSRIs. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated feasibility of predicting ADEs using ML. Incorporating genomic features and drug interactions with deep learning models may improve ADE prediction.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Kristi W. Kelley

  Auburn University

  29 shared

• Tyan Thomas

  Philadelphia VA Medical Center

  13 shared

• Samantha Karr

  8 shared

• Sally Rafie

  University of Indianapolis

  8 shared

• Keri Hurley‐Kim

  University of California, Irvine

  6 shared

• Nicole M. Lodise

  6 shared

• Lamis R. Karaoui

  Lebanese American University

  6 shared

• Alexandre Chan

  University of California, Irvine

  5 shared

Education

• B.S., Biology and Chemistry

  Guilford College

  1998

• Other

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  2003

Awards & honors

• Pharmacist of the Year, California Pharmacists Association -…
• California Chronic Care Coalition Stars of Advocacy Award (i…
• National Community Pharmacists Association Leadership Award…
• Pharmacist of the Year - San Diego Society of Health System…
• P4 Faculty of the Year - University of California, San Diego…