PharmacyForward

Finding a Meaningful Side Gig

Jessica Louie, PharmD, BCCCP — president of Clarify Simplify Align, the host of the Burnout Doctor podcast, and Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at West Coast University — talks to us about developing a meaningful side gig to reinvigorate your passions.

Key Lessons:

• Every career has ups and downs ... and health care professionals are prone to burnout.  Burnout is a syndrome of emotional & physical exhaustion, cynicism about work, and a lack of a sense of personal accomplishment.
• Overcoming burnout takes time to address -  examining your emotional, physical, and spiritual needs.
• Learning how to "own" your time and being intentional with your energy is critically important.
• Starting a small business can be very gratifying so long as the activity aligns with your core values and passions.
• The ten pillars of life can enhance one's sense of wellbeing.  A meaningful side gig can enhance the sense of wellbeing by address several of the life pillars.
• Surround yourself with like-minded people who are interested in or who have successfully developed a side gig.
• Be mindful of the big transitions in life - to minimize stress, whenever possible, limit your attention to one major life event at a time.
• Starting a side gig will require a significant time commitment but you can manage it by using time blocking and simplifying.

You can download the Burnout Starter Kit to learn how to clarify, simplify, and align your life.

Working Remotely - Making Remote Work, Work

Christie Nemoto, PharmD, BCACP - Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in The Queen's Health Systems - Queen's Clinically Integrated Physician Network (QCIPN) - talks to us about providing care to patients at a distance and creating an effective work environment at home.

Key Lessons:

• Health professionals had to learn new skills in order to deliver care to patients and interact with colleagues at a distance over the past year.  Remote work became the new norm during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Clinical care models in Hawaii have evolved over the years to support patients at a distance.  Hawaii is an archipelago of islands and access to health care services is enabled by a variety of technologies.
• Pharmacists play a critical role on the healthcare team, even more so in the digital age.
• Remote communications with patients are challenging - particularly written patient education sheets and post-visit summaries.
• Clinicians need to rely on verbal clues (rather than visual clues) to ensure patient understanding.
• When working from home, it's important to create habits and routines that mimic your work at the office such as dressing professionally, starting and stopping the workday in normal work hours, creating a designated workspace, and setting ground rules with family.
• Be creative using remote activities to increase bonding and consistent communication between team members.

Pharmacists and Point-of-Care Testing

Donald Klepser, Ph.D., MBA - Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy - and Michael Klepser, Pharm.D. - Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Ferris State University College of Pharmacy - talk to us about the role of point-of-care testing in disease state management and to achieve public health goals.

Key Lessons:

• Point-of-care tests (POCT) can be performed in non-laboratory settings, such as the patient's home or in a community pharmacy, and provide clinical data to make treatment decisions.
• The sooner test results can be made available, the sooner treatment can be initiated.  This is particularly important for many infectious diseases because the outcome is closely tied to how rapidly the treatment is started.
• When deployed in community-based pharmacies and clinics, POCTs help increase access to care, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
• POCT can be used to test for influenza, SARS-CoV-2 (aka COVID-19), Streptococcal pharyngitis (aka strep throat), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and other sexually transmitted infections as well as monitor serum lipids, serum electrolytes, and renal function.
• Under a collaborative practice agreement (CPA), community pharmacists can use the results of POCT to quickly initiate treatment or adjust the doses of medications.
• POCT empower pharmacists to provide a range of health-related services.
• Student pharmacists can play a critical role in building our capacity to deploy POCT and provide disease management services in new locations.
• Key opportunities for the future:
  • PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) to prevent HIV
  • Hepatitis C infection
  • Sexually transmitted infections panel
  • Lead exposure

Pharmacists and Population Health

Amanda Schartel, PharmD, BCACP - Clinical Pharmacy Specialist with ChristianaCare CareVio - talks with us about the roles and responsibilities of a population health pharmacist.

Key Lessons:

• Population health involves holistically evaluating the health needs of a population and bringing together the resources and expertise needed to address those needs.
• Population health teams often include practitioners that many patients in primary care settings don't ordinarily have access including social workers, respiratory therapists, and clinical pharmacists.
• Sophisticated data analytics and remote monitoring tools help population health practitioners proactively identify patients who may need additional services or whose health status may be changing.
• Patient encounters are often conducting using videoconferencing technology and text-messaging can quickly capture patient experience data. 
• The role and responsibilities of the population health pharmacist often extend beyond what an ambulatory care pharmacist might address.
• Population health pharmacists often have the authority to adjust medication regimens and order laboratory tests.
• Residency training and board certification are not required but preferred for those seeking employment as a population health pharmacist. 
• The key skill sets needed by a population health pharmacist include patient management experience addressing complex medication-related issues as well as a deep knowledge of quality metrics and value-based payment structures.

Pharmacists and Public Health

Rear Admiral (RADM) Pamela Schweitzer - retired Chief Professional Officer of Pharmacy for the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) - talks to us about the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists during a public health crisis.  Dr. Schweitzer was responsible for providing leadership and coordination of USPHS pharmacy programs for the Office of the Surgeon General and the Department of Health & Human Services from 2014-2018.

Key Lessons:

• Pharmacists play a critical role in the USPHS because they have a unique skill set.
• A pandemic, like COVID-19, requires a coordinated effort between the public and private sectors to address mass vaccination efforts as well as shortages of medications, testing, and personal protective equipment using an incident command structure.
• USPHS pharmacists are deployed to the hardest-hit zones to provide medical and scientific assistance.  With the COVID-19 pandemic, USPHS officers have been helping set-up community testing and mass-vaccination sites as well as providing input on federal guidance impacting pharmacists and pharmacies.
• Pharmacists in the USPHS must wear many hats. While formal training is helpful, getting a wide breadth of on-the-job experiences is critical.
• Be curious. Learn new skills in every position/job. Be flexible and positive. Be comfortable with shifting conditions. Step up, speak up, and volunteer.  Act when you can.  Be a role model.
• If you'd like to get more involved, consider volunteering with your local Medical Reserve Corps , applying to become a Commissioned Officer in the USPHS or the newly formed USPHS Ready Reserve Corps.

Social Media to Make Professional Connections (II)

Ashley Barlow, PharmD (MD Anderson Cancer Center) & Brooke Barlow, PharmD (University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center) - @theABofPharmaC and PGY2 Pharmacy Practice Residents - talk to us about developing their professional brand using Twitter and why creating an online presence can help you achieve your career goals.

Key Lessons:

• Social media, especially Twitter, has become an increasingly important forum for connecting with professional colleagues and engaging in dialog about cutting edge issues that impact patient care and pharmacy practice.
• To get started, read this brief article by Robert Pugliese entitled How Twitter Has Made Me a Better Pharmacist.
• Consider maintaining separate professional and personal social media accounts.
• Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are the most commonly used social media platforms for professional networking purposes.
• Everyone should purposefully develop their professional brand online.  Your digital footprint ultimately reflects your reputation.
• Your online persona is perhaps the first and most important impression that others with have of you.
• Think about the ABCDEs of your social media presence. A - align your social media with your professional goals.  B - build your profile with a professional bio and photo.  C - curate the content you find interesting and important.  D - define your audience.  E - engage in conversations ... be sure to like, comment, and retweet!
• Your online network through social media can lead to many new opportunities.

Get the Social Media Infographic by Ashley and Brooke Barlow (@theABofPharmaC)

Social Media to Make Professional Connections (I)

Dave L. Dixon, PharmD, BCACP, BCPS, CDE, CLS  - Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy and - Brent N. Reed, PharmD, BCPS, BCCP  - University of Maryland School of Pharmacy - talk with us about using social media for professional development and staying current with the latest evidence to support your practice.

Key Lessons:

• Social media includes a wide range of online applications intended to interact with other users in a public setting.
• Social media, especially Twitter, has become an increasingly important forum for connecting with professional colleagues and engaging in dialog about cutting edge issues that impact patient care and pharmacy practice.
• Social media use should be done in a systematic, thoughtful way - you need to decide what your goals are, who to follow, and how frequently to check your social media feeds.
• Being a passive recipient of social media posts (aka being a "lurker") is a great way to get started but eventually, you may wish to share and comment on content you find valuable ... as well as create your own original content.
• Learning how to curate your social media feed can help prevent information overload.
• Following a professional conference (and the people attending) on Twitter can enhance the conference experience and enable those who are not able to attend the conference to learn about what's happening.
• Engaging in social media can be personally and professionally rewarding.  Share your personality!  It should be fun.

Get the Social Media Infographic by Ashley and Brooke Barlow (@theABofPharmaC)

Expanding the Frontiers of Pharmacy Practice (III)

Casey Tak, PhD, MPH - University of North Carolina Eschelman School of Pharmacy and - Karen Gunning, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP - University of Utah College of Pharmacy - talk with us about hormonal contraception and how pharmacists in community and ambulatory care settings can increase women's access to care.

Key Lessons:

• A variety of contraceptive methods have been available through pharmacies for decades but many states now permit pharmacists to directly "provide" hormonal contraception without a prescription.
• A state-wide standing order is the most common mechanism for authorizing pharmacists to provide hormonal contraception directly to patients, but state laws and regulations vary.
• The CDC Guidance for Healthcare Providers - US Medical Eligibility Criteria do not require a woman to have a pelvic exam prior to receiving hormonal contraception. The pharmacist needs to ask about and document the patient's medical and medication history, take the patient's blood pressure, and inquire about contraceptive preferences before providing hormonal contraception.
• Some states require pharmacists to refer patients to a primary care provider to receive recommended preventive care, such as pelvic exams, breast exams, and Pap smears.  Even when this is not required by state law, it's a best practice to ensure all women are receiving appropriate health maintenance services.
• Insurance coverage for pharmacist-provided hormonal contraception is not universal - many private insurance plans do not cover the cost of hormonal contraception or compensate for the pharmacist's time.  However, Medicaid programs often do (varies by state).
• Increasing access to hormonal contraception is good public policy because it can positively impact Medicaid costs by reducing unintended pregnancies, high-risk pregnancies, and infant mortality.
• Student pharmacists can (and have) played an important role in advocating for pharmacist-provided hormonal contraction.

Expanding the Frontiers of Pharmacy Practice (II)

Kristin Wiisanen, PharmD - Clinical Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Precision Medicine at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy - talks with us about using genomics to guide therapeutic decisions.

Key Lessons:

• Precision medicine and personalized medicine are synonymous terms.
• Pharmacogenomics is a tool to personalize treatment decisions.  However, it is not the only tool.  Other readily available and routinely collected clinical information has been used to personalize therapy for decades (e.g. blood type, serum creatinine, CV risk score).
• While creating a separate pharmacogenomic service can help ease practitioners into using pharmacogenomic tests, learning how to integrate genetic information as a routine part of clinical decision-making is the ultimate goal.
• Pharmacists have a unique role (and responsibility) to know when and how to use the results of pharmacogenomic tests.
• Teaching students, residents, and fellows to use pharmacogenomic information should be done in an integrated manner - considered alongside other clinical data, not in isolation.
• Several excellent resources now exist that can assist pharmacists and other providers use the results of pharmacogenomic tests including the Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base (PharmGKB) and the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) Guidelines.

Expanding the Frontiers of Pharmacy Practice (I)

Lucas Berenbrok, PharmD, BCACP, TTS - Assistant Professor of Pharmacy and Therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy - talks with us about hearing loss and the important role pharmacists can play as OTC hearing aids become available in 2020.

Key Lessons:

• Most older adults have some degree of hearing loss and it can significantly impact the quality of life
• There are many causes of hearing loss including medications, infections, cerumen, and aging
• A screening exam for hearing impairment is part of the Welcome to Medicare Exam, but hearing aids are not covered by Medicare.
• OTC hearing aids are predicted to be a far more affordable option for patients with mild-to-moderate hearing loss.
• Pharmacists have an important role in assessing patients and referring them to an audiologist for hearing exams.
• Pharmacists can assist patients select an appropriate OTC hearing aid
• To find an audiologist: American Academy of Audiology