Prescribing power for pharmacists

[rxlea]

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I thought about med school until I worked in a pharmacy and took a psychopharmacology class. I saw what being a pharmacist was all about and then I knew that is what I wanted to do with my life. This didn't come until my last years of undergrad so I spent 3 years post bac doing my pharmacy school pre-reqs and retaking some classes. I am working in the hospital inpatient pharmacy now as an IV tech and, let me tell you, clinical pharmacy is where it's at. At least for me, anyway 😀

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Me neither. In fact I have a dual degrees in social science and arts, so even pharmacy wasn't on my radar as an undergrad.

Good thing I didn't want to be a doctor because I have a vasovagal response to wounds. Not blood so much, but any kind of deep wound. I fainted on two of my rotations. Totally embarrassing and totally uncontrollable. 😳

I have the same reaction to my own blood. Other people, not so much. I think that makes me a sociopath.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I think that makes me a sociopath.

You act like that's a new revelation

It really does embarrass me. I had major abdominal surgery and was inspecting my incision like 4 weeks post-op while I was in the shower. I actually had to get out and lay down because I knew I was going to faint It's pathetic. I would not make a good OR pharmacist. Or ER, for that matter.

 

[rxlea]

You act like that's a new revelation

It really does embarrass me. I had major abdominal surgery and was inspecting my incision like 4 weeks post-op while I was in the shower. I actually had to get out and lay down because I knew I was going to faint It's pathetic. I would not make a good OR pharmacist. Or ER, for that matter.

I would do OR. I've had to go into OR rooms before during a procedure to fix the damn pyxis. One time I walked in on a doctor with his head between the patient's legs-- taking out the prostate of course. There was blood all over the floor. Didn't phase me. It is the smell that can be a problem...especially when there is a GI bleed which, IMO, is the worst smell ever known to mankind.

 

[StriveForGlory]

I would do OR. I've had to go into OR rooms before during a procedure to fix the damn pyxis.

They let you go into the operating rooms while there is a procedure going on? They dont let us touch the specific pyxis machines during a procedure because there is an giant surgical pyxis in the operating hallway so in the worst case scenario the meds can be obtained from there. Which is kind of stupid since I have to suit up to get into the surgical suite anyway... And plus the nurses dont take the damn slip-on cloth shoes off when they leave the operating area, so they are dragging in way more crap than me.

But yeah, im interested in clinical too and OR/ER/Critical Care sounds incredibly interesting.

 

[StriveForGlory]

Btw is there such a thing as an OR pharmacist? The only surgical pharmacy position ive heard of is solid organ transplant.

 

[PharmaTope]

touche.

this is something that should be researched and understood (though shadowing) PRIOR to applying to pharmacy school though. it seems like a lot of pre-pharmers (and even pharm students) have distorted views on the role(s) that pharmacists play in health care.

you can thank the schools of pharmacy for marketting those distorted views

 

[PharmaTope]

I did consider medicine for a while, but because I had the opportunity to observe my older brother go through medical school, residency, and then working as a physician, I realized early enough that while I probably would have liked medical school more than pharmacy school (which was the most boring by far out of all of my educational experience), I would have hated working as a physician. Still, I think had I not discovered that pharmacy was really about, I probably would have gone to medical school after all and tried to find a non-patient care position... I am glad I didn't, though. 🙂

that happens a lot. friends of mine in medicine hate it and they were lucky they got the residency they wanted or would leave. a lot of people hate medicine but cannot get out bc they have no training in anything else and the loans are high. there is a lot of politics in medicine and BS. sure if practicing medicine was practicing to enjoy it would be great; however thats not reality. reimbursements keep dropping every single year. it is crazy

 

[tungsten87]

you can thank the schools of pharmacy for marketting those distorted views

this is definitely the case. pharmacy schools keep preaching about how pharmacogenomics will revolutionize the roles of pharmacists, which may be true to some degree once sequencing is cheap and practical, but this has been said for many years now.

 

[rxlea]

They let you go into the operating rooms while there is a procedure going on? They dont let us touch the specific pyxis machines during a procedure because there is an giant surgical pyxis in the operating hallway so in the worst case scenario the meds can be obtained from there. Which is kind of stupid since I have to suit up to get into the surgical suite anyway... And plus the nurses dont take the damn slip-on cloth shoes off when they leave the operating area, so they are dragging in way more crap than me.

But yeah, im interested in clinical too and OR/ER/Critical Care sounds incredibly interesting.

yeah, we have to gown up and everything. We spoil our surgeons here so every OR room has its own pyxis. They get refilled every night on 3rd shift. That way they don't have to go out into the main hallway or the OR Core. I remember one time, a tech that used to work here refilled something incorrectly and the anesthesiologist had a fit. We had to run up there and fix it and for an entire week the anesthesiologist wanted that tech fired. She ended up getting canned anyway for other reasons. But, the point is, everytime something happens up there with the pyxis, it is a major PITA.

Btw is there such a thing as an OR pharmacist? The only surgical pharmacy position ive heard of is solid organ transplant.

Yeah. We have 3 pharmacists that regularly rotate through the OR here. One comes in at 6 when the procedures start and stays until 2 and another comes in at 11 and stays till 7. There are only 2 at a time so the other one rotates to other satellite pharmacies on the "off" days. They do all their own compounding/making IVs up there. That is one of the reasons I would do it because not only do I like the clinical aspect but I actually enjoy compounding/making IVs.

 

[spacecowgirl]

We had regular OR pharmacists in a big teaching hospital where I worked as an intern. At my current 25 bed place? not so much

 

[Pharmlar]

Fundamentally, physicians are experts in patient assessment, evaluation diagnostics and establishing whether or not to treat, whereas pharmacists are fundamentally experts in designing and implementing pharmacotherapeutic treatment regimens based on ALL patient specific characteristics. On that basis, what would be the problem with physicians and pharmacists working together in a scenario where the physician makes the diagnosis and then refers the patient to the pharmacist for drug treatment? In this scenario: the pharmacist canNOT issue a prescription without a physician referral; the pharmacist is a Pharm-D and/or residency trained; and the pharmacist has access to the patients medical history. Plenty of valid arguments in favor of this scenario have been made by pharmacy professionals as well as the medical community. I am particularly interested in hearing arguments against this scenario.

 

[busygirl]

No, seriously. I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who has a friend who graduated from Hawaii College of Pharmacy. Got a job up in Fairbanks making 250K per year, and he's got full prescribing rights. It's a sweet deal, if you ask me.

Nobody graduates from Hawaii.