How to stay current with drug information?

[depressed pharmacist]

Throughout pharmacy career, I have only experienced retails. I recently got a side job in an institutional setting which I feel really lucky, but I am so lost...I feel like I don't know anything and I felt like all of my drug knowledge is lost. .

It might have been a wrong decision to come into hospital with this little of knowledge, and I'm surprised at myself that I could forget this many stuff. Coworkers in a hospital is very judgmental, and it is not a good learning environment. I know it is a job...not a school, but whenever I ask a question, they snap at me followed by mean comments. I was informed by other employees the other day that they were talking **** about me behind my back about my lack of clinical knowledge.

I really want to be productive at my new job but I don't know where to start. Is reviewing RxPrep a good start? I might be studying for BCPS even though I'm not eligible to take it now. How can I keep up with my knowledge and be a good pharmacist clinically?

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[Thoughtfulsinner]

Work on your confidence first.

There is a reason I never read posts like this in the MD forum.

 

[rxkrafted]

What kind of questions do you ask? I can see how they would be annoyed at what may be simple clinical questions that you should know but if they are technical, hospital policy-related questions, or uncommon clinical stuff that is another story.

Not saying their behavior is acceptable but I'm curious what kind of questions you had in mind.

 

[mfdoom]

I also have a side job at a hospital and often feel the same way you do. I expect it's common for people making that transition, so don't beat yourself up too much. Reviewing RxPrep is a good start. If you have institution-specific protocols for renal dosing, etc., make sure to be familiar with those. Spend extra time before or after your shift looking at any order sets or meds that are frequently used so you have a better idea of what to expect. Pharmacist's Letter is also a good review resource, if you have access to it.

I agree with the above post - what kind of questions are you asking? Is it mostly re: staffing/verifying orders? If so, have UpToDate or globalrph or another quick reference up at all times so you can look up whatever you need to. Workflow or protocol questions should be fair game for any new employee, so it'd be sh***y if people are giving you flak for that.

 

[Jamie2013]

I used the Pharmacy Charts for my board exams and I am currently using it as a refresher and for work. It has been an enormous help. I am able to find information fast because drug info is organized in charts. Recommend it if you don’t have time to do your own research.

Link: 2019 Edition Pharmacy Charts - NAPLEX, CPJE RX Review | eBay

 

[RxPreceptor]

Would like to hear more as others have mentioned as far as what type of problems you've encountered/been called out on.

Would strongly recommend being that type of person familiar with databases (use what your work setting's recommended database so you are in-sync with others); you'll gain/retain more knowledge the more you use & with experience. Having the ability to quickly find the necessary info is what you should be focusing on. Don't be afraid to think outside the box either esp. with off-label uses & routes of admin (Pharmacists' Letter does have articles/charts on many of these issues). Agreed with others on working on confidence issue

What is "common knowledge"/standard of care becomes confusing after so many years working in the same setting (I think more of your colleagues should be understanding of this...these big fish in a small pond could easily be in your shoes with a change in work type setting)

 

[SELDANE]

Spend some time looking at the menus and order sets within the computer system. It will refamiliarize you with standard dosing and also help you become more comfortable with the software system that the institution uses. That in of itself may give you a lot more confidence.

 

[alpha12]

Throughout pharmacy career, I have only experienced retails. I recently got a side job in an institutional setting which I feel really lucky, but I am so lost...I feel like I don't know anything and I felt like all of my drug knowledge is lost. .

It might have been a wrong decision to come into hospital with this little of knowledge, and I'm surprised at myself that I could forget this many stuff. Coworkers in a hospital is very judgmental, and it is not a good learning environment. I know it is a job...not a school, but whenever I ask a question, they snap at me followed by mean comments. I was informed by other employees the other day that they were talking **** about me behind my back about my lack of clinical knowledge.

I really want to be productive at my new job but I don't know where to start. Is reviewing RxPrep a good start? I might be studying for BCPS even though I'm not eligible to take it now. How can I keep up with my knowledge and be a good pharmacist clinically?

Just ask lots of questions. It's better to ask questions and annoy them to not ask. Be assertive. Don't worry about losing your job. If you work in fear that is when **** will got bad.

 

[JustFillIt]

Work on your confidence first.

There is a reason I never read posts like this in the MD forum.

Yea I was thinking the same thing. It’s all about confidence. I’ll be honest. Some of the time I’m pretty sure my drug knowledge is garbage but it’s all about how I present myself to my peers and the public.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Just make sure you right down the answer, so you never have to ask the same question twice. THAT is what really annoys co-workers.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Throughout pharmacy career, I have only experienced retails. I recently got a side job in an institutional setting which I feel really lucky, but I am so lost...I feel like I don't know anything and I felt like all of my drug knowledge is lost. .

It might have been a wrong decision to come into hospital with this little of knowledge, and I'm surprised at myself that I could forget this many stuff. Coworkers in a hospital is very judgmental, and it is not a good learning environment. I know it is a job...not a school, but whenever I ask a question, they snap at me followed by mean comments. I was informed by other employees the other day that they were talking **** about me behind my back about my lack of clinical knowledge.

I really want to be productive at my new job but I don't know where to start. Is reviewing RxPrep a good start? I might be studying for BCPS even though I'm not eligible to take it now. How can I keep up with my knowledge and be a good pharmacist clinically?

You should probably just take it at face value.

 

[BMBiology]

Are you asking your coworkers at the right time? Were they busy and stressed out? Find out who is helpful and who is not.

It is OK for them to talk crap about you. That is just life but don’t let that discourage you from learning and becoming a more knowledgeable pharmacist. Start by asking for the hospital formulas and protocols and review those drugs.

Get close to management. Once your coworkers see how management likes you then they will think twice because they know you might become their boss one day. That is just smart office politics.

 

[sosoo]

usually people will fall ill, go to the hospital, get treated better, and come back with a lawsuit. CVS will pay. you will continue to be a PIC. and when a walgreens pharmacist dispensed the wrong medication. he said, Oh. but they both start with the letter D. do you need more examples?

 

[rxkrafted]

usually people will fall ill, go to the hospital, get treated better, and come back with a lawsuit. CVS will pay. you will continue to be a PIC. and when a walgreens pharmacist dispensed the wrong medication. he said, Oh. but they both start with the letter D. do you need more examples?

How does this address OP's question??? lol wtf are you saying

 

[mentos]

usually people will fall ill, go to the hospital, get treated better, and come back with a lawsuit. CVS will pay. you will continue to be a PIC. and when a walgreens pharmacist dispensed the wrong medication. he said, Oh. but they both start with the letter D. do you need more examples?

LoL what? Think got the wrong thread.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Sosoo's AI is experiencing technical difficulties

 

[PharmtoCS]

Sosoo's AI is experiencing technical difficulties

Maybe hijacked by CVS to write posts convincing others to do unethical/illegal things thinking that CVS has their backs.

 

[BMBiology]

Since we are on the topic, do hospitals generally train their pharmacists before they are allow to work on their own? How long is the training?

 

[Xarelto-10]

Yea I was thinking the same thing. It’s all about confidence. I’ll be honest. Some of the time I’m pretty sure my drug knowledge is garbage but it’s all about how I present myself to my peers and the public.

Very honest and true opinion here. Some peers rush to judge you and even try to smear you the moment you show a gap in knowledge. But remember the fact is you become better and grow if you take risk to ask and be humble to learn even from those who pretend they know it all.

 

[Amicable Angora]

Throughout pharmacy career, I have only experienced retails. I recently got a side job in an institutional setting which I feel really lucky, but I am so lost...I feel like I don't know anything and I felt like all of my drug knowledge is lost. .

It might have been a wrong decision to come into hospital with this little of knowledge, and I'm surprised at myself that I could forget this many stuff. Coworkers in a hospital is very judgmental, and it is not a good learning environment. I know it is a job...not a school, but whenever I ask a question, they snap at me followed by mean comments. I was informed by other employees the other day that they were talking **** about me behind my back about my lack of clinical knowledge.

I really want to be productive at my new job but I don't know where to start. Is reviewing RxPrep a good start? I might be studying for BCPS even though I'm not eligible to take it now. How can I keep up with my knowledge and be a good pharmacist clinically?

Clinical Pharmacology and Lexicomp are your friends. Use the interaction calculators. Concerned about renal dosing or other contraindications? Look it up one by one. Not sure about rates to run IV's? Globalrph is a good start.

 

[BMBiology]

Clinical Pharmacology and Lexicomp are your friends. Use the interaction calculators. Concerned about renal dosing or other contraindications? Look it up one by one. Not sure about rates to run IV's? Globalrph is a good start.

Doesn’t your institution already have some of these information posted or have the computer flagged critical information?

 

[Amicable Angora]

Doesn’t your institution already have some of these information posted or have the computer flagged critical information?

Not particularly, and I was more so trying to give the most widely available, basic suggestions to the OP

 

[sakigt]

At this point you don't need to stay current you need to start from scratch.

1. Write everything down
2. Look everything up, every drug, every time
3. Then ask you questions. "Ive looked at xyz and I cant figure this out." vs "Why are they giving this patient Lovenox 40mg sc once daily?"

I graduated without a residency, I listen to about 10-12 hours of medical podcast updates a month, I studied for and passed BCCCP, I take students and I still have to google weird stuff doctors ask me about. If you haven't bothered to pull up Lexicomp or google before asking me basic stuff yes, I will appear quite bitch-like. I will direct you to resources and if you don't use them I will form an opinion.

 

[depressed pharmacist]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I don't remember exact questions that I asked, but depending on who I work with, I can ask simple questions, or I cannot ask any questions. I guess I sounded pretty discouraged when I posted this because I worked with a coworker with a short temper.

I'll try to be more confident among peers. Thanks again.

 

[johnpharm01]

Throughout pharmacy career, I have only experienced retails. I recently got a side job in an institutional setting which I feel really lucky, but I am so lost...I feel like I don't know anything and I felt like all of my drug knowledge is lost. .

It might have been a wrong decision to come into hospital with this little of knowledge, and I'm surprised at myself that I could forget this many stuff. Coworkers in a hospital is very judgmental, and it is not a good learning environment. I know it is a job...not a school, but whenever I ask a question, they snap at me followed by mean comments. I was informed by other employees the other day that they were talking **** about me behind my back about my lack of clinical knowledge.

I really want to be productive at my new job but I don't know where to start. Is reviewing RxPrep a good start? I might be studying for BCPS even though I'm not eligible to take it now. How can I keep up with my knowledge and be a good pharmacist clinically?

I would start by ignoring your co workers who don't want to help you out. I have worked with plenty of selfish (= unprofessional) pharmacists. I applaud your concern for competence. I would establish a framework for your job what your goals are, responsibilities, In terms of drugs I would study the highest risk ones first. Know the absolute cannot use situations and the routine uses are. Identify critical drug interactions. Invest in the best resources, Most of all stay positive you got hired in a hospital with retail background SOMEONE believed in you..

 

[pharmBear]

This is by far the post positive, helpful, and pharmacy forward post in this whole forum. For that, I congratulate each of the poster above me (except for sosoo post as that was quite irrelevant).

We are our own worst critic especially when starting a new job or in a unfamiliar field.

I say, observe your colleague's workflow and find what works and what doesnt for you. If you learned something new, for goodness sake write it down and apply it! Notebooks and paper are so cheap. Practice practice practice. And have nightmares about your new job for the first 3 months or so and you will fit right in.
I like your determination to review stuff.
Take a case and whittle it down till its in your brain forever.
Goodluck!

Also I am also taking my own advice above! Curse rituxan and humira and its many many on/off label usage!

 

[sozetone]

Throughout pharmacy career, I have only experienced retails. I recently got a side job in an institutional setting which I feel really lucky, but I am so lost...I feel like I don't know anything and I felt like all of my drug knowledge is lost. .

It might have been a wrong decision to come into hospital with this little of knowledge, and I'm surprised at myself that I could forget this many stuff. Coworkers in a hospital is very judgmental, and it is not a good learning environment. I know it is a job...not a school, but whenever I ask a question, they snap at me followed by mean comments. I was informed by other employees the other day that they were talking **** about me behind my back about my lack of clinical knowledge.

I really want to be productive at my new job but I don't know where to start. Is reviewing RxPrep a good start? I might be studying for BCPS even though I'm not eligible to take it now. How can I keep up with my knowledge and be a good pharmacist clinically?

Who cares anymore? just keep up enough to make and save money , and dont worry about talk behind your back....if they dont have the balls to say it to your face, it means nothing....

 

[BidingMyTime]

Make sure not to ask any questions you can't look up yourself...really you shouldn't be asking questions about clinical knowledge, you should be asking questions about hospital protocols and routines. The exception would be if there is real stat order the you have a question about and for the sake of the pt it would be quicker to ask a co-worker than to look it up.

Certainly study the resources listed above. You will be surprised how quickly knowledge comes back to you, even devoting just 20 - 30 minutes a day to study and review.

Sadly, the reason why you may have got this institutional job, is that it is a toxic workplace with high turnover. There is a reason why some hospitals are always hiring, even with the pharmacist surplus. If you are in a toxic workplace, it will probably not matter what you do. See what you can find about the turnover rate at your institution, and that will probably tell you if you need to keep your eyes open for another job.

And definitely write everything you are learning down, as suggested above. You never want to have to ask the same question twice.

 

[Subvisual]

Some people might just be jerks. Some front a dismissive and abrasive exterior because if you're too friendly and helpful in this world everyone comes to over-rely on you and you never get your own **** done. Some are overcompensating and trying to divert attention from the fact that they don't know much of anything either and it's easier to be dismissive to someone else than to admit that.

So, lots of different fragile human psychologies and egos at work.

Some are probably trying to help you in a tough love way though. They're encouraging you to develop your own information acquisition skills instead of immediately asking for help or saying "I don't know". Less than just knowing everything (which is impossible), it's critical that you have the ability to use information resources to quickly retrieve and analyze the most appropriate information. Micromedex, UpToDate, FDA medwatch, PubMed etc.

 

[greenteapanacea]

At this point you don't need to stay current you need to start from scratch.

1. Write everything down
2. Look everything up, every drug, every time
3. Then ask you questions. "Ive looked at xyz and I cant figure this out." vs "Why are they giving this patient Lovenox 40mg sc once daily?"

I graduated without a residency, I listen to about 10-12 hours of medical podcast updates a month, I studied for and passed BCCCP, I take students and I still have to google weird stuff doctors ask me about. If you haven't bothered to pull up Lexicomp or google before asking me basic stuff yes, I will appear quite bitch-like. I will direct you to resources and if you don't use them I will form an opinion.

What are some medical podcasts you recommend?

 

[sakigt]

Are there any good pharmacy podcats?

I've been floating a lot, sometimes over an hour drive and looking for something educational I can listen to in order to increase my knowledge base. I'm a new grad in retail and still feel like there's tons I don't know.

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[BMBiology]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I don't remember exact questions that I asked, but depending on who I work with, I can ask simple questions, or I cannot ask any questions. I guess I sounded pretty discouraged when I posted this because I worked with a coworker with a short temper.

I'll try to be more confident among peers. Thanks again.

My rule is to ask every question on your mind during the first month. If you asked a “stupid” question within the first month, nobody would judge you. But, if you do it after 6 months, people are going to start to wonder and talk.

 

[Jamie2013]

Since we are on the topic, do hospitals generally train their pharmacists before they are allow to work on their own? How long is the training?

Anybody else notice hospitals are expecting new pharmacists to already trained?

 

[JustFillIt]

I have not seen a single operation in any division of pharmacy that trains a new pharmacist. You may get a day or so of orientation but that’s it.

 

[greenteapanacea]

Anybody else notice hospitals are expecting new pharmacists to already trained?

Hospitals have always added experience as a requirement on their job postings. I have seen many people transition from outpatient to hospital though.

 

[deleted862921]

It sounds like more of a staff personality issue rather than lack of knowledge. I'm sure every pharmacist knows something another doesn't know. And if you're being made fun of because you don't know something and they're unwilling to show you then that's just not fair to you. Find yourself a senior pharmacist that will act as a mentor and show your genuine interest in learning. Stay away from the ones that have attitudes. They will do you no good. They will make you less confident and more afraid to ask questions and in our profession we shouldn't be afraid of asking and learning.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Anybody else notice hospitals are expecting new pharmacists to already trained?

Nothing new, I've never seen a hospital give more than a day or 2 of training (by training, meaning the new pharmacist was scheduled with an existing pharmacist to follow them around.) At worst, during the pharmacist shortage, I worked at a place that more then once, scheduled a new pharmacist first shift completely by themselves (with just techs to show them the computer system, explain their duties to them.)

 

[BMBiology]

Nothing new, I've never seen a hospital give more than a day or 2 of training (by training, meaning the new pharmacist was scheduled with an existing pharmacist to follow them around.) At worst, during the pharmacist shortage, I worked at a place that more then once, scheduled a new pharmacist first shift completely by themselves (with just techs to show them the computer system, explain their duties to them.)

How did the new pharmacist do?