HIV Boot Camp: Treatment Goals and Considerations

Editor's note: To date, our most reader requested topic has been HIV. We've written a guest post at MedEd101 to cover the most NAPLEX-worthy testing points. But we thought we'd dig in a little further here. Over the next few weeks, we're posting a series called HIV Boot Camp. We'll shore up your HIV fundamentals. Then we'll breakdown each drug class piece by piece to highlight what you need to know. For convenience, we'll link each part of the series here. Part I

Part II: Treatment Goals and Considerations

Alright. Last time we looked at the background and pathophysiology of HIV. We looked at a small glimpse of what a patient might experience in the early days of an HIV infection. As practitioners, we have to ask ourselves "Now what?" Is it time to just give the patient an Atripla and go on about our day?

Pharmacokinetics: Dosing Wars

So, you’re a second year pharmacy student sitting in pharmacokinetics class. You're listening to your professor animatedly discuss this strange new topic. But let’s be honest, you’re still trying to figure out what the word "pharmacokinetics" (or even regular "kinetics") means.

Frankly, you’re just excited to have a new super long word to use when playing hangman with your classmates.

HIV Boot Camp: Background and Pathophysiology

Editor's note: To date, our most reader requested topic has been HIV. We've written a guest post at MedEd101 to cover the most NAPLEX-worthy testing points. But we thought we'd dig in a little further here. Over the next few weeks, we're posting a series called HIV Boot Camp. We'll shore up your HIV fundamentals. Then we'll breakdown each drug class piece by piece to highlight what you need to know. For convenience, we'll link each part of the series here.

Background

HIV is a bastard. Let's just start right out with that

Antibiotics: A Quick and Dirty Guide

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a doctor in possession of a cellulitis patient, must be in want of an antibiotic recommendation from pharmacy....

Once, a medical resident called me to ask about a patient on the floor I was covering. The patient was 23, and in good health. He showed up to the ED overnight because of a worsening red/swollen wound he received doing construction work a few days prior. He was afebrile.

The overnight team admitted him to the hospital and started on Vanc and Zosyn (I like to call it "ZoVan").

The Top 5 HIV Clinical Pearls for the NAPLEX

Hello Everyone! Just a quick note to mention that we wrote a guest post over at the very awesome www.meded101.com

The post goes through some HIV wisdom for the NAPLEX....which is fast approaching if you're a P4. You can check it out here:

https://www.meded101.com/top-5-hiv-clinical-pearls-naplex/

Hepatitis C Treatment 101

Hepatitis C has been in the news a lot recently. On one hand, the advances in research have some touting the disease on the verge of being "cured." On the other hand, the "Because We Can, That's Why" $1000 per pill regimens are coming under scrutiny from congress.

Many of us try to avoid Hepatitis C (HCV) because so much of the therapeutics are new and "foreign" to us. Also, the HCV treatment guidelines have changed at least twice in the time it's taken you to read this far. But HCV isn't going away. And you know it's going to be on the NAPLEX. So let's dig in, and see if we can't make some sense of this ever-evolving disease.

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Residency, PracticeSamuel OhMarch 31, 2016HepC, Hepatitis C, HCV, Harvoni, Zepatier, Viekira Pak, Sovaldi, Daklinza

Fluid Management: Essentials for Pharmacists

Here's the scene. I'm a new PGY1 resident. I'm still a little nervous with the whole "residency" thing. I'm on my first rotation, covering is an IMC unit (which has patients less sick than an ICU, but more sick than a regular medicine floor). It's still early in the residency, and I'm already tired. Rounds start at 9am, but I arrived hours before to work up my patients. And I woke up hours before that because I hadn't yet lost my motivation for exercise and general health and wellness.

The Cost of Graduating Pharmacy School and Getting Licensed

There's a dirty little secret about life in the first few months after graduation. Many, if not most, entered this profession with the promises of riches and fame (well, maybe not the fame). The initial offer from that major pharmacy chain has more significant figures than your algebra teacher ever required you to round to. And for nearly everyone it will be a tremendous jump in income. Especially considering you've been living on so many student loans that your net income has been negative for 4 years.

Pharmacy School, ProfessionalSamuel OhMarch 22, 2016Pharmacy School, Cost, Tuition, NAPLEX, Money

What To Do if You Don't Match For Residency

The moment you press "submit" on PhORCAS, the doubting begins. It lives in the back of your mind. And it's scary as hell.

You try to go on about your day. You try not to think too much about it. You go work out. You play some Call of Duty. You binge-watch Downton Abbey. But like a small itch, there it is. Nagging you. The question lingers somewhere in your brain no matter what you do.

What if you don't match for residency?

Residency, Professional, Pharmacy SchoolBrandon DysonMarch 16, 2016PGY-1, PhORCAS, Residency, Scramble

The Official Warfarin "Oh Shit" Drug Interaction List

If you are a future (or current) pharmacist, you need to know warfarin. You don't need me to tell you that. Every teacher and preceptor you've had since you started school has been drilling that into your head.

However you've probably also noticed that few will actually tell you how to dose warfarin. Sure, you learn about purple toes and birth defects, but that doesn't tell you what to do when your patient's INR is 5.6.

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyBrandon DysonMarch 10, 2016Warfarin, Drug Interactions, Coumadin, VKA, NAPLEX

The Pharmacy Student's Guide to Dosing Warfarin

Imagine it's your first week of an APPE rotation at an anticoagulation clinic. You're excited and a little nervous. You've been brushing up on your Lovenox. You've read all you can about Eliquis and Xarelto and Pradaxa (oh my!). You're ready to impress.

Then there's the elephant in the room that is warfarin. Sure, you know lots about it. You can rattle off facts about VKORC1, and R and S enantiomers. You know that the pills are color coded by strength.

But how do you actually dose warfarin? If you're like most of us, you probably don't feel adequately prepared to jump right into managing wafarin therapy with what you learned in the classroom.

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyBrandon DysonMarch 8, 2016Warfarin, Coumadin, Dosing, Anticoagulation, NAPLEX

The Struggle: Why tl;dr pharmacy exists

Hey everyone! Brandon and Sam here. We're the founders of tl;dr pharmacy.

Let's just come out with it: Pharmacy School is hard. No matter what program or year you're in, pharmacy school is the dominant part of your life. And what a stressful life it is.

Sleepless nights. Tests. Quizzes. Quizzlets. Exams. Quizzams. Presentations. Group projects. Monographs. Clinical labs. Sitting through 8 hour lecture days (and being expected to pay attention). Navigating a sea of professional organizations and fraternities. Ignoring friends and family for weeks at a time because you're "too busy." A growing six figure pile of debt. Picking up hours as an intern so you can buy food. Fire and brimstone falling from the sky. Cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria.

It's something we've come to call "The Struggle." Every pharmacy student intuitively understands it, but no one can really explain it to someone outside of the profession.