Information on Nuclear Pharmacy

[jplaster]

I am interested in any information (websites, books, phone numbers) that would provide me with more information on the field of Nuclear Pharmacy. It's always been something that has interested and would like to try and find out more about it and possibly do a rotation. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

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[ZpackSux]

All I know is that they get up very early to go to work..and they work with radioactive diagnostic agents.

2 things in life I don't care much about! 👍

 

[rpkall]

I'm not a pharm student, but I used to be a nuclear medicine technologist a couple years back. We had a bunch of nuclear pharmacy post-docs but they were all doing research after getting their PhD's (this was in Massachusetts). One of them (the lead one) may have been a PharmD, but maybe not--I have no idea what the regulations are that govern that, because the Pharmacist/PhD wasn't actually dispensing those tracers to patients--the nuclear techs do it. Furthermore, radiopharmaceuticals aren't really "pharmaceuticals" at all--they don't really change the physiology of a normal body enough to be considered a "treatment" for anything.... unless you're talking about bone palliation with heavy radioactive stuff (Strontium, I believe it was), or non-Hodgkins treatments with Bexxar or Zevalin.

p.s. Nuclear Medicine is slowly but surely losing steam. Its clinical applications are getting fewer and fewer, and though there are certain quintessential nuclear exams that will probably always be beneficial (bone scanning for mets, PET scans, stress-tests), different radiologic modalities are making great strides in the treatment of many new/prevalent diseases (angio/fluoroscopy, MRI, fMRI, thin slice CT, etc, etc).

If you love it, do a rotation--really, because you'll learn a lot and it will expose you to the field. But I think--and someone correct me if I'm way off base--the field of nuclear pharm is geared more towards people who are doing *research*--new antibody tracers, new studies in new populations with old tracers, finding new indications for new diseases, using radiopharmaceuticals to trace normal/pathological patterns, and all that).

Good luck to you in school, whatever you choose!

 

[AngryRPh]

I'm not a pharm student, but I used to be a nuclear medicine technologist a couple years back. We had a bunch of nuclear pharmacy post-docs but they were all doing research after getting their PhD's (this was in Massachusetts). One of them (the lead one) may have been a PharmD, but maybe not--I have no idea what the regulations are that govern that, because the Pharmacist/PhD wasn't actually dispensing those tracers to patients--the nuclear techs do it. Furthermore, radiopharmaceuticals aren't really "pharmaceuticals" at all--they don't really change the physiology of a normal body enough to be considered a "treatment" for anything.... unless you're talking about bone palliation with heavy radioactive stuff (Strontium, I believe it was), or non-Hodgkins treatments with Bexxar or Zevalin.

p.s. Nuclear Medicine is slowly but surely losing steam. Its clinical applications are getting fewer and fewer, and though there are certain quintessential nuclear exams that will probably always be beneficial (bone scanning for mets, PET scans, stress-tests), different radiologic modalities are making great strides in the treatment of many new/prevalent diseases (angio/fluoroscopy, MRI, fMRI, thin slice CT, etc, etc).

If you love it, do a rotation--really, because you'll learn a lot and it will expose you to the field. But I think--and someone correct me if I'm way off base--the field of nuclear pharm is geared more towards people who are doing *research*--new antibody tracers, new studies in new populations with old tracers, finding new indications for new diseases, using radiopharmaceuticals to trace normal/pathological patterns, and all that).

Good luck to you in school, whatever you choose!

I have to disagree with you on several points:

1. Pharmaceuticals are drugs. Drugs are substances that are used to treat OR diagnose an illness (I don't have the legal definition handy, but that is the basic definition.

2. Nuclear medicine is busier now than ever before. Stress testing with cardiac agents are becoming more popular and PET scans are gaining more momentum as Medicare continues to approve payment for more disease states. Also, PET-CT is showing tremendous growth.

Nuke is most certainly not for everyone, though. Students should always do a rotation at a nuclear pharmacy prior to deciding that it is their "calling". I've seen quite a few RPh's wash out because they couldn't handle the shifts and extra documentation that goes along with the job.

 

[rpkall]

Touche on the pharmaceuticals bit. I meant to say that radiopharmaceuticals are not *medicines*, except in the cases of bone palliation and some of the non-hodgkins treatment agents. You're right in that they are pharmaceuticals, seeing as they're called radiopharmaceuticals. 😉

I don't know if you've spent any time in a nuclear clinic, but stress-testing, pet scans, thyroid imaging, and bone scanning are really the only areas left which show the same "promise" that the entire field used to show. Nucs USED to be a whole lot more--in fact, what remains in a clinically-relevant way is only less than half of its various applications in the '70s and '80s. It has its place, and it will always have its place--but I was simply saying that in the field of diagnostic imaging, we used to think its "niche" would be a whole lot bigger.

I didn't want to offend anyone on this particular board, I was merely posting my experiences with nucs from the viewpoint of someone who spent 3 years studying it, spending time with residents and docs, and then deciding to go on to med school.

There is still a lot of interesting research that goes on in the field, especially involving the more relevant scanning techniques (gating for respiratory motion, old pharmaceuticals for new, off-label applications, etc). A lot of objective, realistic nuclear technologists and physicians might even agree that as a young grad--technologist, physicist, physician, pharmacy-alike--it might not be the BEST time to start a professional life ONLY in nuclear medicine (as compared with 20 years ago, for example).

 

[PharmDnHotlanta]

A good website to look at is http://nuclear.pharmacy.purdue.edu/ it has all kinds of great info. I am planning on going into nuclear pharmacy and think the best thing is just to spend a day a different nuclear pharmacies around your area to see if it is for you. Hope this helps🙂

 

[OSURxgirl]

I did a first year rotation in nuclear pharmacy. It was interesting and I'm thankful for the exposure (not that kind of exposure...lol), but I know I wouldn't want to do it for many reasons.

1) The hours. Coming to work when I usually am going to bed (2AM)would not be my cup of tea.
2)Lack of diversity. The pharmacy I worked at dispensed under 20 different radiopharmaceutical products. A pretty limited range.
3) Almost NONE of your traditional pharmacy education will be used. I feel that to be a nuclear pharmacist you could go to a special pharmacy school for 2 years and learn all you need to know.

That being said, the applications of these products are interesting, and it's nice to know that there is possibly some reason why I had to take a full year of physics.

 

[TCB]

I got this from a nuclear pharmacist :



When you graduate, you will have many career opportunities. One of
these
will be nuclear pharmacy. My advice is to explore these options while
in
school so you can make a sound decision when you begin your career.
Moreover, be sure to hone your clinical skills while in school and
during
your residency. I believe that in the future, the value of pharmacists
will
be measured more by clinical and cognitive skills rather than by
distributive (dispensing) skills.

Although I do not currently practice pharmacy, I was a nuclear
pharmacist for several years. This included experience as a staff pharmacist and as a manager. I began my nuclear career with a commercial nuclear pharmacy company. Most of my nuclear training was obtained on the job.
However, I did attend a “user’s” course consisting of 200 hours of formal training in the safe use of radioactive materials as well as basic nuclear physics and radiation biology. This type of training is now available in
residency programs and also from nuclear pharmacy employers.

Nuclear pharmacists, at the staff level, are primarily responsible for
compounding and dispensing radiopharmaceuticals. These drugs are
typically dispensed as unit doses of sterile IV injections calibrated for a
specific administration time. The calibration time is important because the
radioactive component of a radiopharmaceutical decays constantly. That
is, the activity of a given dose decreases with time. This property of
radioisotopes and other factors pertaining to the stability of the
non-radioactive component of the final product results in drugs with
very short useful lives. Many of the drugs dispensed by nuclear pharmacists
are only good for a few hours. Moreover, these drugs tend to be quite
expensive.

What this all means is that radiopharmaceuticals generally need to be
prepared at inconvenient times. A majority of the dispensing in a
nuclear pharmacy is done early in the morning (a typical day begins at
midnight) in order to get the drugs to the nuclear medicine departments when they are needed. Nuclear pharmacists also take call on a regular basis. When on call, the pharmacist must be available after hours to make up emergency doses on short notice. A call usually means a trip to the pharmacy to prepare an emergency dose and possibly delivering the dose to a hospital, depending on the availability of an on-call delivery driver.

Other duties of a nuclear pharmacist include:

• Inventory management of radioactive (hot) and non-radioactive (cold)
drugs.
• Supervision of non-pharmacist employees such as technicians and
delivery
personnel.
• Quality control testing of compounded products.
• Management of radiation safety programs and the necessary
record-keeping
for these programs.

Nuclear pharmacists have many responsibilities and mastering the
necessary
skills is an enjoyable challenge. However, the following issues should
be
weighed when considering nuclear pharmacy as a career:

• Nearly all drugs dispensed by a nuclear pharmacy are time sensitive.

• A pharmacy operates about 16 hours daily during the week and shorter hours on weekends.

When the pharmacy is closed, all hours must be covered by an on-call
pharmacist. This pharmacist must respond to emergency calls within a
short time, usually 30 minutes. Response usually means traveling to the
pharmacy to prepare doses.

• Shifts, weekends, and call are usually rotated among the staff
pharmacists.

• Radioactive materials are potentially dangerous and require special
handling.

• With the exception of some institutional nuclear positions, most
nuclear jobs are not clinical in nature. That is, nuclear pharmacy is
primarily a distributive specialty. This may change with time, but the value of nuclear pharmacy services is related to the product dispensed. By and large, cognitive services of nuclear pharmacists do not generate fees.

 

[TCB]

I also got this :


Nuclear Pharmacy is an exciting field of pharmacy and I have the fortune to work at a great pharmacy near my hometown. I have been at Radiopharmacy for over three years and have learned a great deal since graduation. We are an independent commercial nuclear pharmacy (not affiliated with Cardinal Health, Mallinckrodt, or GE) in Evansville, IN. We offer all nuclear medicine products from all vendors. See www.radiopharmacy.com for more information about our company.

We have a great staff inclding four full-time pharmacists. I work five weekday night shifts and one weekend (night shifts) every four weeks. The night shifts were not all that difficult to get used to. I think that it is harder on my family sometimes. However, I still have great family time, especially compared to working evening shifts at a retail or hospital pharmacy.

I can say that there is nothing that I hate about nuclear pharmacy. I love providing great service to our customers without the hassles of insurance and third party payers in the way.


The practice of nuclear pharmacy requires a degree in pharmacy, a pharmacist license, and authorized user status with the NRC of agreement state. This is available after accrual of so many hours of work and school experience.

Salaries are competitive with other fields of pharmacy. I would say in general nuclear pharmacists make more than hospital pharmacists and less than retail pharmacists. Starting salary about $80K/year.

I would definitely choose nuclear pharmacy again based on my experiences so far.

 

[Glycerin]

The University of New Mexico has a pretty good nuclear pharmacy program from what I hear:

http://hsc.unm.edu/pharmacy/Certificate Programs/certificatesnuclear.shtml

 

[AngryRPh]

The University of New Mexico has a pretty good nuclear pharmacy program from what I hear:

http://hsc.unm.edu/pharmacy/Certificate Programs/certificatesnuclear.shtml

New Mexico has a fantastic CE program for Nuke. I know at one time, Gopal B. Saha even tought there...Oh yeah, he wrote of the most commonly used texts in nuclear pharmacy.