Louisiana and New Mexico psychologists & prescription privileges

[BTB]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=2835329#post2835329


Discuss.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I can think of about 20 professions that should hold prescriptive authority before psychologists. That they lack the depth of physiology and pharmacology knowledge of an LPN is bloody frightening.

 

[aubieRx]

BY ZAK STAMBOR

when i have more time im gonna come back and read that article just because that is one of the best names I've ever seen

 

[njac]

I know that at our interview they said that New Mexico is the one of the only states (only?) where pharmacists can prescribe and administer immunizations (and at that moment I decided that Depo Provera is an immunization...) and they also have prescribing rights for Plan B here.

I don't know much about Louisiana but the vast majority of New Mexico is _very_ rural so it does make some sense to spread out prescriptive authority in severely underserved areas.

 

[aaron31981]

I would put a trained human psychologist up against a psychiatrist any day.

Until you start talking about concurrent illnesses. How much pharmacology do you think a psychologist gets on biguanides? This is of special concern with all of the atypical antipsychotics that increase your risk of diabetes.

But it is your life, do what you want to do.

 

[Sustiva]

I would feel much more comfortable having a Psychologist who has completed however many hours of psychopharmacology required to prescribe me antidepressants, than a young internal medicine resident..

 

[BTB]

I would feel much more comfortable having a Psychologist who has completed however many hours of psychopharmacology required to prescribe me antidepressants, than a young internal medicine resident..

Going in a slightly different direction: antidepressants need to follow several sessions of talk therapy rather than replace them.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I would feel much more comfortable having a Psychologist who has completed however many hours of psychopharmacology required to prescribe me antidepressants, than a young internal medicine resident..

I'd take a good psychiatrist over both of them. It's not their knowledge of brain pharmocology I'd worry about - don't forget, the body is more than just above the neck. Like aaron31981 said, I'll take the clinical and pharmocological knowledge obtained in a physicians' training over a psychologists' training any day of the week. I can just see some guy giving a bottle of St. John's Wort or prescribing carbamazepine to a patient on warfarin.

They should have a role though. They should help advise towards the best plan vis-a-vis psychopharmocologic agents, but leave the decision of the actual agent to the physician who has a broader understanding of the ENTIRE body so nothing obscure is overlooked.

 

[ProZackMI]

If optometrists and dentists have RxPs, and NPs and PAs, then why shouldn't properly trained psychologists with a PhD/PsyD and specialized training in psychopharmacology. How much pharm do dentists and optometrists receive? If a doctoral program in psychology included the appropriate amount of pharm, med assessment, neuroanatomy, etc., they should be able to Rx with the same degree of safety and accuracy as the ODs and DDSs, neither of whom went to medical or pharmacy school.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

If optometrists and dentists have RxPs, and NPs and PAs, then why shouldn't properly trained psychologists with a PhD/PsyD and specialized training in psychopharmacology. How much pharm do dentists and optometrists receive? If a doctoral program in psychology included the appropriate amount of pharm, med assessment, neuroanatomy, etc., they should be able to Rx with the same degree of safety and accuracy as the ODs and DDSs, neither of whom went to medical or pharmacy school.

Dentists take extensive biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy courses (I know because they took them with us.) In addition to this, they take pharmacology courses, too.

NPs take pharmacology and pathphys/therapeutics courses, too.

PAs...well, I don't think they should have prescriptive authority, anyway.

If there was a psychologist that took all of the human biological sciences, all the organic chemistries, etc, that all the other health professions took, then maybe. But if you went that far you'd have a psychiatrist.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I've changed my mind.

On my way to work this morning, I realized why people who have prescriptive authority who probably shouldn't due to a lack of in depth knowledge over the ENTIRE body don't kill people. It isn't because they know a bunch about pharmacology; it's because of us. Think about how many times a PA or new resident screws something up and a pharmacist catches it. Imagine how much more we could legitimize our high salaries with an increased amount of people to babysit. Go ahead, give 'em prescriptive authority, I'll brush up on all the cytochrome P450 isoforms fluoxetine inhibits. It'll just make us look better.

 

[aaron31981]

I've changed my mind.

On my way to work this morning, I realized why people who have prescriptive authority who probably shouldn't due to a lack of in depth knowledge over the ENTIRE body don't kill people. It isn't because they know a bunch about pharmacology; it's because of us. Think about how many times a PA or new resident screws something up and a pharmacist catches it. Imagine how much more we could legitimize our high salaries with an increased amount of people to babysit. Go ahead, give 'em prescriptive authority, I'll brush up on all the cytochrome P450 isoforms fluoxetine inhibits. It'll just make us look better.

A lot of good that will do with samples.

I would prefer to see a situation where only pharmacists are allowed to prescribe. Everyone else would make the diagnosis and then be sent to a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist.

AZ does have a collabrative practice law, so this is a start.

 

[Sustiva]

^ I would suggest everyone read this:
http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/136/1/79.pdf

from American College of Physicians and ASIM....

I think the section on why they think Pharms should not prescribe is very interesting.. (position 3)

 

[aaron31981]

^ I would suggest everyone read this:
http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/136/1/79.pdf

from American College of Physicians and ASIM....

I think the section on why they think Pharms should not prescribe is very interesting.. (position 3)

They oppose pharmacist diagnoses. As do most reasonable pharmacists.

I would have to say that a BCPS would be a better person to choose pharmacotherapy than any physician, provided the proper diagnosis was made.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

A lot of good that will do with samples.

I would prefer to see a situation where only pharmacists are allowed to prescribe. Everyone else would make the diagnosis and then be sent to a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist.

AZ does have a collabrative practice law, so this is a start.

That would be optimal, and I've supported the idea since I've become oriented with the entire system. The problem is that we're thinking 20 years ahead of our time in a world that's far too resistant to change.