Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in which there are high levels of sugars in the blood. Did you know that the total prevalence of diabetes is 25.8 million children and adults in the United States? That’s 8.3% of the population! There have been 18.8 million people diagnosed and 1.9 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older in 2010 (www.diabetes.org).

One of the recent labs I completed was called Managing Patients with Diabetes. During this lab, we evaluated different blood glucose meters for ease of use, sample size, and testing time. Also, we got to test our own blood glucose levels, cholesterol levels, and A1C. Plasma glucose testing measures the amount of glucose in the plasma which is done clinically in the laboratory setting. Self monitored blood glucose testing is used when a patient uses a whole blood sample and applies it to a glucometer to measure whole blood glucose levels. This provides the patient with immediate feedback. A normal fasting glucose test is <100mg/dL. Glycosylated Hemoglobin (A1C) provides information regarding a patient’s glycemic control over a longer period of time (previous 120 days). This type of testing is not used to monitor day-to-day testing like the glucometer. A normal A1C falls between 4-6% (www.webmd.com).

Several different risk factors exist for developing diabetes. These include obesity, age, smoking, high-fat diet, excessive alcohol intake, metabolic syndrome (high cholesterol, high LDL, low HDL), race, inactive lifestyle, and genetics. It is important to monitor a patient’s cholesterol levels as they are not always obvious to the patient. If a patient’s total cholesterol is >200mg/dL or HDL <40mg/dL or LDL is >100mg/dL or triglycerides are >150mg/dL, he or she should consult their primary care physician (www.webmd.com).

Just to add to the fact about the importance of learning about diabetes, I mentioned in a previous post as a first and second year student, you are assigned a community teacher, someone who you meet with and discuss their general health and medications throughout the academic year. One of the requirements with this is creating a presentation about some health disease and presenting it to a group of community teachers or public audience. The topic my classmates and I chose was Type II diabetes because of the increasing prevalence and educating patients about preventative methods to decrease their chance. Also, another assignment for a class is reading a book called “Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes” by James S. Hirsch. I am excited to begin this book as I know I will not only learn a lot about  the disease but about how to help patients who have diabetes.

Also, see the video clip shown on the news!

http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/nw-wisconsin/Health-Expo-Helps-Northlanders-Live-Healthy-138724424.html

After day 2 of being a PD 1.5, I look forward to another (what I hear to be) great semester! As far as classes, most of the classes continue this semester, Practice of Pharmaceutical Care, Pharmaceutical Care Skills, Biochemistry, Drug Delivery, and Early Pharmacy Practice Experience. The new classes this semester include Immunology & Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Calculations, and Patient Assessment. This semester, first year students are able to choose elective courses. One elective course I am taking this semester is Leading Change in Pharmacy which is a leadership course. The College of Pharmacy offers a leadership emphasis program for student pharmacists in which a series of courses are completed. The student works with a faculty advisor to choose elective learning opportunities that best match the student’s career interests. This program also may accept prior credit for management courses completed during pre-pharmacy coursework! I plan to enter the leadership emphasis program as I am certain I will gain skills and tools that I can utilize in many aspects of my life, especially to the profession of pharmacy!

As I am enjoying my last day of winter break, I thought I would recap the events that took place. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was going to work at Camp Friendship as a Health and Medication Aide. As a reminder, Camp Friendship is a camp for individuals with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, seizure disorders, sight or hearing loss or a combination of disabilities. Some of the disabilities include attention deficit disorders (ADD/ADHD), autism, cerebral palsy, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD) or Heller’s disease, Down syndrome, Fetal alcohol syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), Aspergers, William’s syndrome and Rett’s syndrome. Camp is a time for campers to make new friends, develop new skills, and have fun! Some of the activities at camp included arts and crafts, yoga/aerobic exercises, rock climbing, cooking/baking, sledding, snowshoeing, gym time,  hayrides, Wii, popcorn parties, and board games.

My two weeks at Friendship Ventures – Camp Friendship allowed me to gain more of an appreciation for individuals of diverse abilities. It was an eye-opening experience to see some of the struggles that campers dealt with but brought a smile and satisfaction to see how they  handled their disability while maintaining a positive attitude. As a healthcare staff member, it was my responsibility to enhance the quality of life for the campers, their families, and caregivers by ensuring the campers received their indicated medications at the correct time as well as assisting with First Aid treatments, cares, transfers and emergency procedures.  The first week, there were about 90 campers ages ranging from 7 to 60 year olds. The second week, there were about 50 campers ages ranging from 25 to 62 year olds.

A typical day for me was wake up at 7a.m, go do my 8a.m med pass, breakfast at 8:30a.m, assist those in the Health Center, set-up my noon med pass, administer meds at noon, set-up odd time med passes such as 2p.m. or 3p.m, hang-out with campers in my assigned cabin, set-up 5p.m meds, administer dinner time meds, set-up 9p.m meds, assist with personal cares for bed time, pass out 9p.m meds, assist those in Heath Center, set-up 8a.m meds, bed time at 11:00p.m or midnight and then repeat.

Every camper had a medication profile that was filled out prior to the beginning of camp. At check-in day, the Health and Medication Aides (HMA) sat down with each camper’s caregiver to go over their medications, the correct dosing, time of dosage, proper administration, and any specific instructions. After check-in was over, the healthcare team organized each camper’s medications into bins properly labeled with the name of the camper and cabin. Each HMA was assigned a certain number of campers based on the number of medications that were to be given each day. The first day was the busiest as setting all the meds took time. As the days went by, setting meds did not take as long as it was a routine.

Some of the unique opportunities I was able to learn and perform were responding to seizures, administering suppositories, performing neurological exams, administering a growth hormone injection, changing a colostomy bag, and gastrointestinal tube feeding. Overall, this experience was a great way to develop relationships, practice my patient care skills, and gain knowledge about medications (I learned A LOT!)

If you would like to learn more about Friendship Ventures, feel free to ask me questions or visit  www.frienshipventures.org/

 Besides living at camp for two weeks, I was able to enjoy some time with family and hometown friends. The Holiday season is always an excuse to relax, eat lots, and be merry and that is just what I did those few days I had. Well as I said before, back to school tomorrow to learn LOTS!!

Well as we come to the last few weeks of Fall semester, all I can say is time flies when you are having fun! I thought I would get another blog in before I am locked into studying!:) One semester almost done and I can honestly say it has been some of the best times of my life so far! You learn so much about the profession of pharmacy right away which will stay with you for the rest of your life. Although it is a rigorous curriculum, it will pay off in the end! Since I kept busy during the entire semester, I figured I better keep busy over winter break. I received a position as a Health and Medication Aide at Camp Friendship, a camp for individuals with disabilities located in Annandale, MN. This position entails assisting cabin staff with treatments, cares, transfers, and emergency procedures, administering First Aid and treatment to minor wounds, evaluating patients’ medical needs, making certain that the campers are getting the correct medication at the right time, having fun, and making a difference in those who have a disability. I look forward to this two-week experience as it will be a great way to develop relationships, practice my patient care skills, and gain knowledge about medications.

I would like to give kudos to two fourth year students at Duluth for their hard work over the semester regarding policy making. Andrew Feld and Allison Scott were both noted in the Duluth News Tribune about their concerns with the merging between pharmacy-benefit managers (PBMs). To view the article, click on the link:

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/215977/publisher_ID/36/

So you may be wondering about what type of finals exist in pharmacy school… Well it does differ by year… As a first year, we have three exams (Biochemistry, Drug Delivery (cumulative), and Physiology (cumulative)), a lab practical, and final papers. It will be a wonderful feeling when all is done!:)

Over the weekend, a group of people from Kappa Psi went to Bentleyville ”Tour of Lights”. Bentleyville is an event located on the shores of Lake Superior in Bayfront Festival Park. There is music, marshmallow roasting, ice skating, hot chocolate, and cookies. It is the largest Holiday light show in the Midwest with nearly 3 million lights. The sparkling tree shown in one of the pictures is taller than New York City’s famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree!

Happy Holidays!

“The mission of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) is to be the collective voice of student pharmacists, to provide opportunities for professional growth, to improve patient care, and to envision and advance the future of pharmacy.” (Source:  http://www.pharmacist.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home1)

Every Fall, there is a Midyear Regional Meeting held at one of the colleges within a region. The location changes each year depending on a rotation schedule. The University of Minnesota is part of Region  5 along with Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming. There are 8 regions in the United States each divided up by near states.

MRM allows for student pharmacists to debate about certain issues that affect students and future practitioners. Before the event, each pharmacy school creates policy statements that they would like to propose that weekend. All of the policies are complied together which then the Regional Delegate reads one-by-one and opens discussion to anyone. That night, each chapter meets and discusses all of the policies making a decision together on whether they vote yes or no for the policy. The following day is when the voting takes place to either pass or fail each policy. A representative from each school takes place in the voting.

If the policy passes, it is passed along to be formally debated by the House of Delegates at the APhA Annual Meeting potentially becoming an official policy of APhA-ASP. The APhA Annual Meeting is held in New Orleans in March.

In addition to the policy debates, there are continuous education programs and workshops held throughout the weekend. Some of the events were leadership, media interviewing skills, managing financials, etc.

There are leadership opportunities available to those who would like to represent their chapter. Brittany Karns, a third year student from the University of Minnesota – Duluth was elected as Regional Delegate for the 2012-2013 year! Congratulations Brittany! The University of Minnesota had one of the largest turn-outs this year with over 50 students attending!

If you would like to learn more about APhA or MSP, please visit   http://www.pharmacist.com/

In the following pictures, you will see students dressed as Beanie Babies. Every year, there is a theme party held on Friday night. This year the theme was “Party like it’s 1999″ so the University of Minnesota – Duluth students dressed as Beanie Babies.

On Friday we had Kappa Psi Informal! It was a lot of fun! Informal is part of pledging for the fraternity  where we were able to show our sense of pride in becoming an active member! The purpose of informal is to introduce the pledges to the traditions and activities of the fraternity. It was an awesome night of bonding with fellow brothers! The pledges provided dinner for all the brothers and then performed different tasks. Once you are a brother, you are a brother for life! We have a formal initiation in a couple of weeks!

Kappa Psi Informal

Image by uncleboatshoes via Flickr

with practical procedures and experiences right away in the first semester. Last week I had Introduction to Parenteral Compounding where we compounded an IV. During lab, we learned about the following medications: Dextrose, Normal Saline, Potassium chloride, and Aminophylline. (For each laboratory, if there are medications involved, it is required to do prior research to determine the indication, effectiveness, safety, and convenience so we can discuss them during lab.) After discussing all the necessary information regarding each drug, we performed calculations such as the appropriate amount of additive, volume for the vehicle (base in which a drug goes into), total volume used, etc. Also, we learned about the appropriate environment for compounding sterile parenteral medications, which is in a laminar air flow hood. The picture shown indicates an example of working in a hood; however, this picture was taken purposely with mistakes or errors. Can you point out mistakes or incorrect practice in the picture?  Read on to find out what is wrong in this picture.

IV compounding -- what is wrong in this picture?

A few thing I learned about working in a hood is wash hands for at least 30 seconds before doing anything, keep things as clean as possible, spray gloves with 70% isopropyl alcohol whenever you leave the hood to grab materials, clean hood from dirtiest to cleanest working your way from the back corner to the front surface, swab off each vial with alcohol wipe, place materials at least 6 inches from the edges, supplies should be spread apart with nothing in front or behind them so air flow can reach each one, the ports on the IV bag should be facing away from compounder, keep materials in the hood when injecting needle into bag (people tend to back-up which allows their hands to leave the hood), enter a vial with a needle starting at a 90 degree angle, cap the needle and discard into sharp hazard container when finished. These are just a few beginner tips about working in a laminar air flow hood. After we compounded the IV, we had to label the product. Similar to other labeling, there are specific requirements that are necessary to put on a label. It is always important for someone to check your work for accuracy after compounding so mistakes do not cause an effect on the patient.

Thing wrong in picture:  – not wearing gloves & the bag should be turned 180 degrees so air flow keeps the port uncontaminated

I would like to discuss one class that first year pharmacy students have in  the curriculum, which is actually a four semester sequence course. This course is called Early Pharmacy Practice Experience I. This course allows students to gain experience  and develop skills interacting with other professional students as well as other practicing professionals. Within this course, there are different parts in which I’d like to talk more about.

First years are paired up with second year students which are partnered with a community teacher. A community teacher is an individual in the community who has volunteered to serve as a patient for the students to develop relationships with and chat about their medications. During the first semester, you meet with your community teacher two times each semester. In addition to meeting with a community teacher, each group is assigned a faculty advisor whom we meet with to discuss our visits.

Another part of this course is called 1Health  (FIPCC) — Duluth pharmacy students interact with medical students to discuss similarities and differences within the profession. This course really focuses on interprofessional collaboration and teamwork that must exist in order to optimize the health care needs of the patient. One disadvantage for

Image via Wikipedia

Duluth students is the number of other professionals we have access to interact with whereas Twin Cities has that access but interprofessional just means between 2 or more  There are six sessions throughout the semester where we meet as a team.

A third piece of this course is mentoring. Each student is assigned a pharmacist mentor. Each student is required to complete 10 hours of observation with their mentor. Before you are assigned, you fill out a questionnaire about what field of pharmacy most interests you so they can match you as best they can. I have been paired with up Dr. George who is a professor right at the school. I look forward to beginning this experience.

Another requirement of this course is altruistic hours. Each student is required to complete 3 hours of community service. There are numerous activities you can do to complete these outreach hours and it does not necessarily have to be pharmacy related.

Although this may seem like a lot for 1 credit, it is experience and skill  development that will allow us to apply to our profession as well as help prepare us for our fourth year rotations.

Well back to studying some autonomic nervous system!  —> (This is what I get to study!)

I am proud to say that I have joined a professional pharmaceutical fraternity - Kappa Psi. This fraternity allows students to gain opportunities to become involved in professional and social activities and to develop as leaders. Click to view slideshow.

In Kappa Psi, you are assigned a “Big Bro” who acts as your mentee or companion to be there if you need help with anything regarding the fraternity or someone to just chat with about anything. During this last week, each day, every pledge received a clue in their mailbox that would lead to who their big brother was which we found out on Friday. On Thursday, we received a colored t-shirt to wear on Friday. Every pledge received a different colored t-shirt and our big bro would be wearing the same color t-shirt! I look forward to all the great opportunities that Kappa Psi has to offer and meeting many new colleagues  and potential co-workers or bosses

Last week, we had a Medical Microbiology test. In this class, we learn about different organisms that we commonly see here in the United States and across the seas in other countries. These organisms play a significant role in the type of treatment that needs to be given to cure the symptoms or disease. Some strains of Staphylococcus aureus are resistant to the B-lactamase-resistant penicillins such as methicillin due to the changes in penicillin-binding proteins in cell membranes. We just finished covering bacteria and have now moved onto worms (helminths, nematodes, pinworms, and flukes).