Pharmacy schools traditionally have focused on providing students the clinical skills and body of knowledge necessary to safely enter practice after graduation. This is, of course, critically important and should make up the bulk of pharmacy education; however, pharmacists who have been practicing understand that real life requires more than that.

Since I started my side hustle in medical writing, I have come to realize that it is essential to diversify income sources. Few companies have all their revenue coming from one product, and virtually no investor would recommend having everything in just one type of investment. Yet many people are fine with all their income coming from one source. Even if you’re drawing a high salary, a layoff or an unforeseen situation where you are cut off from that income will result in earnings going to zero.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a surge in demand for health care, leading to widespread shortages of PPE, staffing, hospital beds, and more. During this time, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) issued a report that raised concerns about the alarming conditions, which one nurse described as ‘pandemic nursing,’ and which was increasing the risk for errors.

In my first job out of school, I worked as a float pharmacist for a national chain and was fortunate to be in an amazing district, where I learned a lot and had great experiences in numerous stores. After about a year, I got the chance to pursue my dream and move to Hawaii, where I worked for about 8 months as a staff pharmacist at a long-term care pharmacy, and then later became its manager. I’ve managed a couple of different pharmacies since.

You give a lot as a preceptor, but you get so much in return. Not only have I learned a lot from students working with me in pharmacy, but also the pharmacy practice and patient care have benefited as well. By helping catch potential errors, taking an active role in process improvement projects, jumping in the trenches with me during particularly busy times, and even making my job of hiring easy (I’ve hired a former pupil), students have left a lasting impact on rotation. Let’s look at how you can be sure your students are getting just as much out of being there as you’re getting out of them being there.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination campaign is thankfully in full force now in the US, with >128 million doses administered and almost 14% of the population having been fully vaccinated as of March 23, 2021. In Northeast Florida, where I work, we are aggressively vaccinating. The health system I work for, for example, has held clinics that have vaccinated close to 2500 people in 1 day (in addition to >5000 employees). Also, our health department, as well as other health systems,

Pharmacy practice has changed significantly in the past 10 years. There’s been a large shift as the industry becomes increasingly consolidated and mail-order pharmacies continue to take a larger share of the national prescription volume. In addition, pharmacists participate in more patient care activities like conducting MTMs, dispensing travel vaccines and contraceptives, and doing point-of-care testing.

In 2018 the opioid crisis led to over 67 000 deaths, and while improvements have been made, it is still a leading cause of death nationwide. Being on the front lines is where we can have the biggest impact. Florida, where I practice pharmacy, now even requires patients to be given a handout discussing alternative treatment options for pain each time they are prescribed an opioid.

With the recent Emergency Use Authorization of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and others likely not far behind, now is the time for pharmacies to prepare for some mass immunization efforts. Here’s what you can do to get ready.

I am a community pharmacist by trade and fell into medical writing somewhat by chance. To be honest, I was completely happy working in community pharmacy and never even knew medical writing existed for at least the first 4-5 years of my career. I wrote a couple of articles for peer-reviewed journals, but since they don’t pay anything, I assumed there wasn’t any money in it.

There’s nothing that can muck up a busy day like a Board of Pharmacy inspector walking through the door, unannounced, to poke around your pharmacy. Even for a pharmacy in good order, an inspector can take up to an hour of work time or more, all while prescriptions and vaccinations are backing up or you are forced to balance both the inspector’s queries and the needs of your patients.

Course created with Leslie Lugo, MS, RPh, BCPP

Medications for cardiovascular disease dominate the list of most widely-prescribed drugs in the US , and there's no doubt you probably prescribe them nearly every day in your practice. However, lurking behind some of those therapies are dangerous drug interactions. This quiz covers the top 5 interactions I see regularly in my practice as a community pharmacist.

8-hour POCT certificate course for pharmacists, created in collaboration with other pharmacy faculty.

If you’ve been prescribed methotrexate, then it’s very likely your doctor has also prescribed folic acid. You may be wondering why. Let’s talk about folic acid and why it is important to take while you are on methotrexate. What is methotrexate, and how does it work? Methotrexate (Rheumatrex) is in a class of medications called Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (DMARDs). They are drugs that can slow down the progression of rheumatoid arthritis to keep you better for longer.

Methotrexate is a medication that’s often used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which can cause symptoms like red, painful, and swollen joints. If you’ve heard of methotrexate before, you probably already know it’s a medication that’s taken long term to help lessen the symptoms of RA. But what about side effects? And how does it compare to other medications?

It’s no secret community pharmacists could use more hours in their day. With unpredictable volumes, the implementation of non-dispensing activities like vaccinations, and MTM that need to be completed between dispensing, pharmacists often feel stressed and short on time throughout their day.

The upcoming flu season has many healthcare professionals especially worried this year. COVID-19 alone has stretched the healthcare system to its breaking point in many places, and it remains to be seen whether we will face another surge of infections during the peak of the flu season. To make matters worse, influenza and COVID-19 are both upper respiratory illnesses with similar presentations, and the possibility of co-infection further increases the chances of misdiagnosis.

Despite shortages earlier this year, both hand sanitizer and most disposable, single-use masks have become widely available again. But people continue to use a variety of masks to protect themselves, including handmade and cloth masks, surgical masks, and N95 respirators.