On the eve of Frankenstorm, I reminisce back to my residency days and my first experience with tornado sirens in Kansas City. My co-residents and I were out celebrating the PGY2 HSPA residents’ graduation from graduate school when the sirens started. No one in the restaurant seemed fazed or concerned when the sirens broke the silence of a serene Saturday evening. The opposite was true as I braved my local Costco today for some last-minute groceries. I watched a pallet of bottled water disappear in three minutes and grocery carts overflowing with anything and everything, including 12-packs of Greek yogurt. Now with the news predicting power outages for extended periods of time, Greek yogurt wouldn't have been my first choice.
So I sit here with 50-hour burn candles waiting to be lit and continue to reminisce about my residency days. This is the time of year when P4 student pharmacists are perfecting CVs, color-coding Residency Showcase maps, and debating what questions to ask future residency directors. Many students have asked me how I selected the programs I interviewed with and made the final decision. One question that frequently surfaces is, “If you had the opportunity to do it all over again, would you choose the same program?”
Oncology was my one of my favorite courses in pharmacy school. I really enjoyed learning about the chemotherapy regimens, the toxicities associated with the agents, and adjuvant therapies used to prevent anticipated side effects from those agents. When we selected our APPE rotations, Oncology was my first choice for all acute care and elective rotations. I figured that the more times I ranked Oncology, the odds should be in my favor. Well, unless your colleagues have the same mentality and everyone ranked Oncology as their top choice. Since I missed out on an APPE rotation in Oncology, I wanted the opportunity during my residency rotations.
In March 2011, I completed a four week rotation in hematology/oncology at The University of Kansas Hospital. I spent two weeks on inpatient hematology, one week on inpatient bone marrow transplantation (BMT), and one week on inpatient oncology. While I am far from being an expert in these areas, I have a greater appreciation for the complexity of this pharmacy practice area and a more educated understanding of the types of treatment, prevention, and counseling that these patients must undergo. Had I known that these opportunities existed earlier in my career, I may have more actively pursed this area of pharmacy practice. This is why I wanted to share a unique opportunity with my fellow new practitioners and student pharmacists:
Fundamentals of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Training Course
Brought to you by the NMDP System Capacity Initiative Pharmacy Workgroup in Partnership with the ASBMT Pharmacy Specialty Interest Group (SIG)
The field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) continues to advance rapidly. Starting work in this area can be quite intimidating for new practitioners. The “Fundamentals of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation” training program is designed to provide a new practitioner with the rudimentary skills required to care for patients undergoing HSCT. This course will focus on therapeutic management of HSCT patients. Practitioners new to the field of HSCT will derive benefit from this coursework, including pharmacists, registered nurses, advanced practice professionals, and medical oncology fellows.
The course will be held in conjunction with the Tandem Meetings on February 13th - 14th, 2013 at the Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. Continuing education credit will be offered in the form of ACPE (pharmacists), CEU (nurses), and CME (ARNPs, PAs, and physicians).
The registration cost to participate in the 2-day meeting is $400 for ASBMT members and $600 for non-ASBMT members. Attendees will be provided with detailed printed materials from each session. The registration cost includes breakfast, beverages during the breaks, and lunch each day. Participants are responsible for their own travel and hotel arrangements. This meeting is a stand-alone meeting from the ASBMT /CIBMTR Tandem Meetings and does not provide admittance to that meeting; it requires a separate registration.
Click here to learn more about the course and to register. If you are unable to attend the meeting, a print version of the educational materials is available at the same cost as the live training.
#ContinuingEducation #hematology