Utilizing Drug Information Resources

After my first year of pharmacy school, I have greatly increased my use of databases and online resources. I have never utilized resources as much as I have this year, or with as much efficiency. Starting pharmacy school, it was very daunting to me to think of all the information pharmacist must inherently know as they enter the workforce. Now that I am a year in, I realize there are so many resources out there to help us along the way. Pharmacist must both be knowledgeable of drug information but also know how to be able to quickly extrapolate drug information from resources when we are asked questions outside our scope of knowledge.

In addition to increasing my comfort level with drug information databases, I have also enjoyed access to pharmacy journals. I subscribe to the American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy and IPA Journal. Both of these resources are great ways to stay current with the profession through research and professional editorials. I look forward to continuing to utilize drug information resources and expand my knowledge of research in order to be an asset to a health care team centered on evidence based practice.

Baby Steps

I am currently enrolled in a class called, ‘Social Aspects of Pharmacy Care’. At the beginning of the semester, we were assigned to work on a health behavior, which we could design ourselves. The goal was to continue to work towards the health behavior at least four times each week for the remainder of the semester. Not long after the challenge had been assigned, I found it increasingly more difficult to maintain my health behavior. While speaking with other students in the class, it was clear that most people had failed, either due to lofty goals or the distractions of everyday life.

Although this may feel like an abstract application to pharmacy students, I was able to draw from the experience and I feel it will help me to understand and be compassionate for the challenges that my future patients will face when making health changes. Pharmacists hand out copious amounts of health advice on a daily basis, but I believe it is important for us to understand the implications of this advice on the patients. Clearly, any advice to increase activity level or monitor diet is done with the hopes of improving the patient’s health overtime. It is important for us to understand the challenges of actually carrying out these behaviors and how they will fit into the lifestyle of our patients.

Perhaps the most important advice I learned from the experience was to counsel patients to work up to a goal, gradually, overtime. Additionally, it is important for us to be very specific in our recommendations. The more specific the recommendation, the more the patients can visualize themselves carrying out the task and the more empowered they will feel. Overall, promote healthy activities to your patients, but understand there are significant challenges and lifestyle changes that need to be managed to allow these changes to take effect. Even small changes are better than perpetuating an unhealthy lifestyle.

Cheating the Profession

In the recent May 1^st issue of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, an article titled, “Promoting academic integrity among health care students” identified some of the barriers to academic honesty in pharmacy school as well as actions taken by academic institutions to reduce academic dishonesty. As a pharmacy student, I was able to connect with many of the concerns raised in the article. In any health care academic setting there is great pressure placed on students to perform with academic excellence. This can become a great burden for students, and it does not surprise me that many students turn to cheating in response to stress created by the academic system. I do not condone cheating but I absolutely understand how it happens, and often frequently, in challenging programs like pharmacy.

It concerns me that cheating is common in professional schools as I think forward to the critical roles these students will have in decision making and care for patients. According to the article, individuals who have participated in academic dishonesty are more likely to have professional misconduct later in their career. In a profession such as pharmacy, which is detail oriented and focused on the transparency of information, there is absolutely no tolerance for professional dishonesty. At the most basic level, individual’s lives and wellbeing are dependent on the honesty of pharmacists and their ability to be accountable for their actions. I hope pharmacy schools will continue to evaluate their testing methods to decrease academic dishonesty, yet in the end, it is up to each individual student to choose to be academically honest and accountable.

Learning through Service

One of my most valued experiences from my first year of pharmacy school has been my participation in the organization, Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SSHP) in Lunch and Learn Presentations to the community. The Lunch and Learn Presentations allowed me to practice my presentation skills as well as interact with members of the public. I presented on safety concerns of OTC NSAIDS and acetaminophen and presenting on this information forced me to become an ‘expert in this area’. When teaching information, I am able to come away with much more knowledge than simply being a passive participant. The people we presented to had little background in healthcare and it was a great chance for me to being portraying information in a manner that is accessible to people of all knowledge bases.

Additionally, the sessions were organized by P3 students and a PGY1 resident. All of these people served as excellent role models in patient interaction. As a P1 student, I found these experiences as a way to understand where I stand with my own knowledge base, where I will eventually be in a couple years down the road and the things I need to do to get there. Taking initiative and participating in service based events is a great way to expand your knowledge base as well as a great opportunity to interact with members of the community and demonstrate the value of pharmacists. I hope to serve as a role model to younger students in the future by continuing to be involved with service events and building my basis of clinical knowledge.

Finding Brotherhood in Pharmacy

In the past month, I attended Kappa Psi Conclave in Des Moines with other Kappa Psi brothers from Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Throughout the weekend we had many opportunities to socialize with brothers from other chapters as well as discuss ways to advance the mission of Kappa Psi.

After attending conclave and being active in Kappa Psi throughout the last year, I would recommend to other pharmacy students to become involved in a similar type of organization. Kappa Psi truly provides a foundation of brotherhood that is essential to becoming successful in the field of pharmacy. We are able to interact with pharmacists and pharmacy students from all over the country who share similar values and partake in unique experiences that create common bonds.

Even if a pharmaceutical fraternity is not your style or within your interests, every pharmacy student should find something to participate in that makes them feel needed, appreciated and part of a larger group. Pharmacy school is hard enough already, why not take it on with a group of ‘brothers’ to help you out over the years?

Changes in Compounding Pharmacy Oversight

On April 26^th, the United States Senate produced early compounding legislation, primarily in response to the Meningitis Outbreak in 2012. The legislation was lead by the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and will be important to compounding pharmacists as well as compounding manufactures in the world of pharmacy. This legislation will define the differences between compounding manufacturers and compounding manufacturers. This distinction is critical as the traditional compounding pharmacies function very differently than the pharmacy implicated in the meningitis outbreak. The legislation will also support the increased role of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in regulating compounded products and manufacturers. It is important to note that individual states are still primarily responsible for regulation of pharmacies, however the federal government will have an increased role in ensuring compounded products meet minimum standards, as defined by this new legislation.

The most critical aspect of this legislation to me is that the federal government will have increased oversight in communication between states and the FDA. To me, this is something that will greatly increase the safety of drug products and continuity of safety across the U.S. It is unfortunate that the 2012 Meningitis tragedy was the event that exposed fundamental flaws and weaknesses in compounding pharmacy and compounding manufacturers however, I feel confident that federal legislation will promote increased communication between compounding entities and regulatory bodies of pharmacy practice. With increased communication, it will hopefully be easier to catch compounding incidents before they become tragedies. It is my hope that this legislation will give people greater confidence in the safety of compounding pharmacies and push compounding pharmacists to be innovative in their safety practices to promote patient safety as the most critical aspect of their practice.

Leadership in Clinical Pharmacy

As students, we are encouraged from our first year in pharmacy school to take on leadership positions and establish ourselves as leaders among our peers. Often times, it seems we have all come from backgrounds of having leadership positions that when a leadership opportunity appears in our midst, we all grapple for the spot. With this in the back of my mind, it surprised me when I read the article titled, “Is there still a pharmacy leadership crisis? A seven-year follow-up assessment” in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. According to this article, there is a predicted shortage of pharmacists in managerial positions at hospitals.

Many young pharmacists in clinical settings are unwilling to give up patient contact and clinical skills to work in an administrative position. I understand individuals’ needs to work in a challenging clinical setting, but I also hope that pharmacists are able to shape their profession by taking on administrative roles. Ideally, hospital administrators will be able to work with their pharmacists to create hybrid administrative positions that can be split between administrative and clinical practice.

Moving Forward in 2013

The relatively unglamorous world of compounding pharmacy clashed abruptly with national media through the tragic fungal meningitis outbreak resulting from contaminated methylprednisolone. As I sit down to write this entry, the Centers for Disease Control report 696 cases of fungal meningitis across twenty states with 45 deaths. A practice that may have been under the radar for many Americans, compounding pharmacy has officially been brought into the spotlight for both public and legal scrutiny.

It is easy for me to see, even as a first year pharmacy student, how a disaster of this magnitude has the ability to negatively impact the world of pharmacy. Although the New England Compounding Center was practicing well outside established compounding pharmacy best practices, it is not a stretch to believe that the trust many Americans had in the practice of compounding pharmacy will be diminished. 

When members of the profession tarnish the practice of pharmacy, it is the responsibility of pharmacists as well as students to present the practice professionally. In 2013, pharmacy must put its best foot forward and continue to make progress in the improvement of patient care and safety.