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?