Advertisement

Blog Viewer

Birth of an Informatics Pharmacist

By Michael Schlesselman posted 04-09-2013 20:55

  
As I look back on my career, I wonder how I got to where I am today.  I left school thinking I was going to be a clinical pharmacist and move on to being a clinical coordinator.  But somewhere along the road, I took another path...some would say the path less trodden...some would say "you do what" and some would say "I have found my way".  Having started out as a clinical pharmacist, I learned the value of having clinical information quick and easily accessible.  I also saw computers were also becoming more and more ubiquitous in the hospital and very few knew what they could do or not do.  And thus, I started my journey down the informatics path.

Along the way, I have had lots of OJT (On the Job Training), learned some hard lessons, taken some formal courses and taken some vendor sponsored programs.  I've also attend as many of the ASHP CE sessions on informatics.  Over the last 10 years, ASHP has continued to grow the offering and depth of informatics sessions.

I must say that ASHP has been my one sustaining source of CE on informatics.  As Pharmacy Informatics has grown and matured, the skill set has also grown but not in a organized fashion.  Each of us in the world of pharmacy informatics builds our own specialized and individualized set of skills.  To bend the popular saying, if you have seen one pharmacy informaticists skill set you've seen one pharmacy informaticists skill set. 

I think the time has come that we identify a core set of informatics skills that become scaleable over time depending on the environment where you work.  Some of us are very mature in our informatics model and some us are still in the learning and growing phase.   The Section of Pharmacy Informatics and Technology Executive Committee has identified these skills as core skills for a pharmacy informaticists:
1.    Relational Databases
2.    Project Management – Project Life Cycle
3.    Basic Programming – SQL
4.    Flow Diagrams
5.    Interfaces
6.    Human Factors
7.    Analytical Tools – Report Writing
8.    Trouble shooting/Problem Solving/Communication
9.    Safe Design with appropriate checks and balances
10.  Interdisciplinary workflow with the Medication Use Process (General Infrastructure)

What are your thoughts on basic skills?

I leave you with one final thought.  If you are the least bit interested in pharmacy informatics, please view this SOPIT webinar.


#Careers #Informaticists
0 comments
1621 views

Permalink