Advance Pharmacy Practice Experiences..
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Janssen Pharmaceuticals Rotation By Yunghon (Eric) Lee, PharmD Candidate
I had a virtual rotation at Janssen Pharmaceuticals in Global Pharmacovigilance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This rotation was geared toward learning about the role a pharmacist plays in Global Pharmacovigilance within the pharmaceutical industry especially for the collection and processing of individual case safety reports for investigational clinical trials. A typical day in this rotation can vary, but usually it will consist of a meeting with your preceptor where they will go over industry-specific topics. I learned about the importance of writing Suspected Unexpected Serious Adverse Reaction (SUSAR) narrative cases and how they are completed, had meetings with current fellows in pharmacovigilance, and worked on assignments and presentations. This rotation is a great experience to learn about one of the many roles pharmacists can play in the pharmaceutical industry. It is a great opportunity to gain exposure to industry if you are interested in pursuing a post-graduate fellowship. If I had to give one tip for this rotation, it would be to NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK. Use your five weeks to learn as much as you can about as many functional pharmaceutical industry areas. Many of the fellows and employees are willing to meet with students for 30 minutes to discuss their role, their functional area, and give advice to students who are interested in this career path. These are great experiences to gain insight as well as create a network of colleagues that may help in the future. I am grateful for having this opportunity to rotate at Janssen Pharmaceuticals and I would highly recommend this rotation to any student that wants to see how a pharmacist can play an integral role in the pharmaceutical industry.
10 UMES RxTIMES > Fall 2021
Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PCICU) Rotation By Edelquine Mandzo, PharmD Candidate
During my Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PCICU) rotation at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, I saw patients between 1 hour old to 18 years of age. These patients were either born with a congenital heart defect or had developed heart failure due to infections or other risk factors. Most patients were in the hospital long-term connected to machines such as the Berlin Heart Machine and Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) that were lifesustaining until they could get a heart transplant. Some patients were often heavily sedated and on several medications that needed the expertise of a well-trained pharmacist to monitor the efficacy, drug interactions, contraindications, and possible side effects. With minimal studies on infants, many of our recommendations as pharmacists were inferred from adult patients based on the literature and evidence available. In addition, medications were prescribed at reduced doses with regards to the patient’s weight. Therefore, knowing every medication, their mechanism of action, recommended pediatric and adult doses, and the side effects were significant to treating these patients. A solid organ transplant is a medical miracle that restores life, and medications play a significant role in sustaining life. The role of the pharmacist is crucial in the field of transplantation as patients are always on several medications that need to be constantly monitored. This rotation taught me to be very thorough in my assessments because a patient’s life depends on my ability to make appropriate recommendations. Furthermore, my preceptor taught me always to ask ‘WHY” because it keeps me curious and proactive as a lifelong learner.
