Topic of Choice 2023

    Pharmacy has gone through many changes over the years, some that have improved the profession for the better as well as some that have cast dreary doubt on the future of the profession. I'm going to focus on some interesting trends I've noticed in the field, and how it's going to influence prospective job market for pharmacy. In particular, I'm going to discuss the rise pharmacy programs in the U.S., predicted pharmacy job growth and application & admittance trends for these programs.       It's no secret that from the late 90s to present day there has been an explosion in pharmacy programs across the U.S. with many of these pharmacy schools not even being ACPE accredited. Since the year 2000, the number of pharmacy schools has almost doubled from roughly 80 to 142 U.S. based pharmacy schools as of December of 2022. It seems this exponential growth in large part is due to many academic institutions trying to capitalize on the increase of pharmacy sc...

Dear Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Wow! What a crazy 2-ish years it has been since you first entered the world. I remember when I first met you on January 4, 2021, in the basement of Riley Hospital for Children. There were rumors between myself and my colleagues that we might be some of the first to meet you because we qualified as healthcare workers, but we weren’t entirely sure. It was torturous waiting for the email to come that said either “yay” or “nay,” but we finally got the go-ahead. I remember posting a picture of my COVID card to my Instagram story and feeling so proud and so lucky about everything. However, I know everyone did not share these same positive feelings. I’m not sure if it was ignorance on my part, but when I heard that you, a COVID-19 vaccine, had been developed against a pandemic that was causing thousands of people to die, there was no question in my mind on if I should or should not meet you. Actually, there wasn’t even a question. It was only a state...

 After the overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer, many states across the country lost their abortion rights immediately. 13 states had “trigger laws,” where abortion was immediately outlawed following the overturning of Roe, and a total of 17 states currently have laws in place outlawing abortion. Many of these states are in the South and Midwest and have a greater proportion of Black and Hispanic women. Because of this, women in these states who wish to get an abortion may have to travel out of state to a state that still has laws in place protecting abortion rights, and this results in additional barriers to care that will disproportionately affect people of color. Additionally, the majority of people obtaining abortions are people of color. People of color, particularly Black women, also have much higher rates of maternal death compared to white women. According to the Black Woman’s Health Imperative, Black women are 3-4 times more likely to not survive a pregnancy compared to ...

Similarly to human medicine, herbal supplements and alternative treatments are increasing in popularity in the equestrian world due to a desire for “natural” remedies.  Some of the most common issues in horses are osteoarthritis, poor hoof health, and hormonal imbalance.  Although alternative medicines and herbal supplements are commonly used for these ailments, not all agents have robust data to support their efficacy. Glucosamine supplements are the most commonly used OTC remedy for equine osteoarthritis.  Almost every horse will exhibit pain, stiffness, and general discomfort due to osteoarthritis, but it is extremely common in show horses.  Osteoarthritis is treated with proper diet and weight management, frequent low-intensity exercise (turn out), and annual corticosteroid injections.  Although these measures are successful in many horses, show horses undergoing consistent high intensity exercise may still show impaired performance due to arthritis.  G...

     One thing that I find interesting is the public perspective of pharmacy. Specifically, how the general public views big pharmacy companies. I think it is common to come across an opinion talking about how corrupt big pharma is. Or how selfish the pharmacy business can be. These opinions too are spread everywhere instantaneously these days. Whether it is on the news or on Twitter, I’ve seen these views of pharmacy spread all over. Now, I am not saying that the business side of pharmacy is perfect and free of selfishness and flaws. I also think that pharmacists as individuals have a generally good reputation with the public. However, I do not think that many with a platform give the audience the whole picture when it comes to big pharma.       I am not going to go into too much detail about the ins and outs of the business aspect. Honestly, I do not believe I know enough to actually do that. I may not even know enough to accurately describe my point...

I recently came across an article by writer and journalist Anne Helen Petersen. Titled "How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation", the article explores millennials' reluctance to get seemingly mundane tasks done, like registering to vote, managing appointments, or mailing out packages. Petersen terms this phenomenon "errand paralysis", and goes on to attribute it to a myriad of factors unique to the Millennial condition, such as the post-2008 financial crisis employment landscape, the emergence of social media and the role it plays in blurring the lines between work and life, the need to compete with Gen Zs for traditionally "secure, middle-class jobs"...the list goes on. I can't help but notice similarities between the burned out, errand-paralyzed Millennials and healthcare workers (aspiring healthcare workers like myself included). Burnout is such a big issue in healthcare and a major contributor to resignation, self harm, or suicide among h...

 Practicing medicine in pediatrics involves unique ethical considerations and limitation that differ from adult medicine. Ethical principals in pediatrics must consider the best interest of the child while also taking into account parental autonomy, and the balance between the potential benefits and harms of interventions. Additionally, children may lack decision-making capacity and not fully understand the consequences of the choices before them, so healthcare providers must communicate with them and/or their parents/guardians in a developmentally appropriate manner. I found the parent to child to provider relationship very interesting, as ethical considerations come into play when a provider and parent disagree on the treatment for a child. In peds, the principal of beneficence is incredibly important, which requires providers to act in the best interest of the child. However, parents have the legal authority to make decisions for their child, which can sometimes conflict with th...

Medication shortages frequently cause disruptions to healthcare delivery in the United States when preferred agents are not available. These shortages can occur due to many reasons, including manufacturing issues, supply chain difficulties, medication discontinuations, monetary or other business decisions, and even natural disasters. While medication shortages can be defined in different ways by various institutions, it is clear that they have been increasing in frequency over the past couple decades. One of the biggest issues with this is the lack of advanced warning systems to alert providers of an impending shortage. Manufacturers are only required to give advanced notice to the FDA if they plan to discontinue a single-source, medically necessary drugs, and a significant amount of leeway is given to the manufacturers in making these decisions. As a result, the vast majority of reporting is voluntary. According to the ASHP/UUCP drug shortage program, as of 2011, manufacturing pro...

 

     One of the problems that affects the United States healthcare landscape is the status of its quality. Preventable medical errors are a leading cause of death in the U.S., which is surprising given the amount of money that the U.S. funnels into healthcare. 1  Medical errors also contribute to the growing cost of healthcare, further exacerbating the financial burden placed on health systems and patients alike. An aspect of medical errors that isn’t always considered is the way in which medical errors affect healthcare providers. Apparently, many providers experience anger, guilt, inadequacy, depression, or even suicidal ideology when they think or they know that they have committed an error. 1   These feelings may be increased by the threat of legal action or malpractice suits against them. Although it is important to acknowledge and rectify medical errors that are made, it is also important to recognize that healthcare providers are humans and that human err...