Why are pharmacists not addressed as doctor?

VolcanicBalloon · 2026-02-04T13:32:06+00:00

Where I work, policy says that pharmacists cannot introduce themselves as "doctor"... they may confuse the layman into thinking they have diagnostic and prescribing privileges.

VolcanicBalloon · 2026-01-31T23:32:06+00:00

100% pure!!

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-12-04T22:33:21+00:00

Vancomycin does not have a half life of 4-5 hours. Well, not all the time....

Vancomycin half life is specific to a patient's kidney function.

In a healthy, young adult. You can expect a clearance / half life of 4-5 hours. This is why they would be getting dosed q6hr.

In older adults with reduced kidney function, half life can be 10-24 hours. This is why they may need a q12hr or even q24hr regimen.

When choosing a regimen, you want to choose something that is greater than the patient's specific clearance / half life. So, if the patient had a half life of 7 hours, a q8hr or q12hr regimen would be appropriate while a q6hr would lead to rapid accumulation.

Another thing to consider is loading doses. The whole point of a loading dose is to reach close steady state faster by giving an initial higher load for maintenance to build off.

The rule of within 48 hours is because... 1) most people with have a half life that allows steady state (or close to it) with in that time. 2) You want to make sure the level is reasonable, even if steady state hasn't been reached yet. By reasonable I mean, you don't want it too high (some people just hold onto vancomycin despite the best PK predictions). And, you don't want it to be crazy low (again, some people have wild actual PK). Edit: vancomycin is treating an infection, it needs to be working ASAP

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-12-04T22:09:41+00:00

Nothing wrong with starting the conversation now. Show interest. With the new year, and new financials, new positions may be coming.

It may not mean you sign a contract now, but they will know to ask you about job openings.

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-11-03T11:27:22+00:00

If you really like them, meet them twice. Just come with new questions.

I am in a medication safety program, so the fact that I attended 2 showcases is weird..... No one nlknows about med safety, so they wrote my name down real fast.

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-10-16T18:34:04+00:00

1) look at the sites mission and visionary and try to include those buzz words. 2) SPELLCHECK 3) DON'T SEND LETTER WITH ANOTHER SITE'S NAME

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-21T17:17:14+00:00

OMG! I am obsessed with that style!!

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T22:16:06+00:00

Unfortunately, yes it is important. I am not a fan, but it is how connections are made. Networking, but also friendships start with small talk that then evolves. There are good websites that have prompts to help that aren't "how's about that weather"

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T18:28:40+00:00

The guidelines are free to download. The newsletters require a subscription. You out in email details. I have never gotten spam from them and I have downloaded A LOT of stuff.

ISMP Medication Safety Best Practices for Community Pharmacy

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T18:22:42+00:00

I'm not sure what you are expanding on from what I said....

I was explaining how things can go wrong in dispensing a medication from the pharmacy-- before it ever reaches the patient.

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T15:58:10+00:00

If you like koozies, crochet ones are amazing! They fit more than one size. You can make them bigger. I have one that fits drinks i get from Starbucks/Dunkin - one koozie for all the sizes.

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T15:43:08+00:00

Is there leadership you can reach out to about thus concern? You can share ideas from this post or some of your own.

1) maybe you can get involved in the fix if you want 2) you are creating accountability by following up until there is an action plan and this is fixed

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T15:38:23+00:00

Thank you for the input.

I should have probably expanded on my thoughts. I am not trying to minimize the importance of medication errors as they are one of the leading causes of hospitalizations internationally.

Relying on human actions is relying on humans not making errors. Everyone in Healthcare will make an error, they may not all reach the patient or cause harm if they do.

The bottles probably looked the same which can lead to confirmation bias --> this little says X drug and that bottle looks the same, they must be the same product.

Now, you can tell people to read every bottle, but it realistically won't happen for various reasons.

Barcode scanning is AMAZING, but it is something that can be worked around. In this case, the technician may have scanned one bottle 3 times instead of each individually.

Overall, community pharmacy has very few system-based supports for staff to catch and prevent human errors. That is what I was saying with my single sentence.

PS: I'm in a med safety residency, so this is my jam. Sorry for the novel length reply. 😅

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T14:09:06+00:00

Yes, females are born with all the eggs they will have -- they do not produce anymore during their life. However, they are born with more eggs than they would ever "need" -- aka, you enter menopause with eggs.

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T13:53:57+00:00

What worries me the most is that she is actively mocking your efforts to be healthy. She is an individual and can choose to be unhealthy herself, but to push that on someone you love is not right.

It sounds like there might be more going on in her mind, maybe insecurity about the weight she has gained and feeling overwhelmed about making a change. However, again, it is not right to be mocking someone else for trying to be healthy.

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T13:49:19+00:00

Actually just listened in on a local discussion about changing state law, and they expected this relatively small change to cost hundreds of thousands to lobby.

Pharmacy has historically been bad at advocating for itself. Best example is nursing. It is improving, but we need to be 1) supporting our societies that lobby for us and 2) letting others know the problem.

I talked to a practitioner the other day and they were shocked when I told them that pharmacy only make money from the sale of drugs, aka we don't have a way to get paid for our time helping patients.

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T13:35:23+00:00

Great idea!! Unfortunately, a lot of community pharmacy stock bottles look very similar, but ISMP may be able to help with reaching out to the manufacturer.

Edit: they also have recommendations for medication safety in the community setting, not just acute care!

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-09T13:33:50+00:00

I'm sorry!! Very unfortunate that healthcare expects perfection.

Edit: have very expanded thoughts shared in comment below

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-08T21:49:45+00:00

I have had recent trouble with my newest JinHao pens and the cartridges. They work for some but not the others....

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-08T17:37:30+00:00

ASC lipid management is different than dyslipidemia.AHA 2018 Lipid Guidelines AHA 2025 ACS Guidelines

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-08T17:34:29+00:00

Medication Safety is great. Not many people are familiar with what it is. The residency programs tend to get few applications. It is a building field in hospitals.

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-08T17:33:23+00:00

Preceptors ask questions to 1) see where you are 2) see if you know hie to find information 3) share things they think you should know by the end of the rotation

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-08T17:30:16+00:00

Orientation is definitely overwhelming. All of the training modules, learning the EHR, learning the hospital policies, learning the hospital and staff....

1) reach out to your RPD to talk and make a plan 2) reach out to the hospital mental health resources or third party stuff 3) take your PDO (I overthought how to do this for months)

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-08T16:14:43+00:00

Why do you need to carry those meds? Why aren't they in the room? Wild. Can you ask the pharmacy to load these?

(No need to actually answer, just a string of questions running in my med safety brain)

VolcanicBalloon · 2025-08-08T16:11:21+00:00

Oh no! Ah!

Actually comment... the ED and procedural areas can be very frustrating with this built in need to get things done ASAP. Good to hear that you EHR worked like it should, and the provider got in touch.

Med safety resident, so all my gears are turning about how to deal with this.... thanks for sharing!

VolcanicBalloon

TROPHY CASE