Pharmacists and Computer Interaction

[PistonFan531]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Do you think Pharmacists are using the internet too much at work to help them with new drug interactions and things of that nature? Or like when a patient asks the Pharmacist instead of a doctor for medical advice and the Pharmacist has to use the computer rather than the knowledge within him?

 

[IrishRxMan]

It's not required that you know everything about every drug out there. The most important thing is that you know where to find the information and what to do with it when you find it. The most common things you dispense you will be familiar with but there will always be oddball things that you aren't familiar with, especially if you work for a big chain and they have you going to a different pharmacy almost daily. Each location will have it's different group of commonly dispensed medications along with the core common ones. There's just simply too many drugs out there for anyone to know everything about every one of them.

 

[naseuy]

Do you think Pharmacists are using the internet too much at work to help them with new drug interactions and things of that nature? Or like when a patient asks the Pharmacist instead of a doctor for medical advice and the Pharmacist has to use the computer rather than the knowledge within him?

As a pharmacist you'll know a lot, but you can't expect to know everything. New studies are being produced regularly, there's just simply no way to know everything.

 

[Ttennis31590]

After working in retail as a tech for a little under a year, I see this situation VERY VERY rarely. Come to think of it, I do not think I have ever seen this. However, the two Pharmacists I work with both have over 25 years in the business so it is somewhat expected I guess, since new drugs are not hitting the shelves EVERY day let alone every week.

 

[DrExperimento]

I think there's a fine line between using the internet to research new drugs, and using the internet to answer fundamental questions. I haven't had much experience in the pharmacy yet, but I honestly don't see how that dependancy would be possible. You couldn't really do your job if you were so reliant on a google search. It's a faulty frame of mind that really could create some pretty severe mistakes. What if there was a factor you didn't consider? What if what you searched was wrong? What affect would it have on the patient? I think pharmacists who want to rely on this will be checked with reality pretty quickly.

 

[LoudSpeakers]

A lot of the pharmacists at our store likes to use Clinical Pharmacology to clarify or double check for drugs. Sometimes they aren't aware that there's a new generic so they check with a book. Sometimes they use clinical pharmacology to identify the drugs because patients bring in pills and claim it is something when it isn't. Hmm, I have a few newly graduated pharmacists and sometimes I see them reading things on the intranet.

 

[bkiskadd]

I think there's a fine line between using the internet to research new drugs, and using the internet to answer fundamental questions. I haven't had much experience in the pharmacy yet, but I honestly don't see how that dependancy would be possible. You couldn't really do your job if you were so reliant on a google search. It's a faulty frame of mind that really could create some pretty severe mistakes. What if there was a factor you didn't consider? What if what you searched was wrong? What affect would it have on the patient? I think pharmacists who want to rely on this will be checked with reality pretty quickly.

Generally pharmacists don't use google for drug information. They use scientific literature that is widely recognized so the information being wrong is not really an issue.

 

[ajh88]

Do you think Pharmacists are using the internet too much at work to help them with new drug interactions and things of that nature? Or like when a patient asks the Pharmacist instead of a doctor for medical advice and the Pharmacist has to use the computer rather than the knowledge within him?

No - you use a combination of your knowledge along with the resources available to you to provide an accurate answer to the question you're being asked. If that means I'm on Clinical Pharmacology 10 (or 100) times a day, so be it - I want the answer to be right, period.