Over the last few months I have been working with the University of Rhode Island on preparing an ACPE-accredited continuing education (CE) course for pharmacists. Depending on what state you are licensed in, pharmacists are required to have a certain number of CE hours, some of which must be "live" classes. Other states are even furthered detailed in their CE requirements and often specify how many credits one must complete on pharmacy law and immunizations, for example.
I worked with the three other pharmacy residents in the state (YES, there are only a total of four residents in the entire state of RI... I was shocked when I learned this. I mean, I know RI is small, but really? Indy isn't that big and Clarion along probably has 20 PGY1 pharmacy residents) to come up with a CE topic. Although we needed a general theme to link our presentations, we would all be presenting for 40 minutes each on different topics. We had originally discussed an emphasis on infectious disease but ended up focusing on neurology.
Not going to lie, neurology was not my first choice... it is one of those areas that I feel like no one really understands. Needless to say, I learned quite a bit on my area, multiple sclerosis (MS), since I had almost zero memory of learning about it in school. My presentation was titled "Disease-Modifying Agents for the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis." In conjunction with my presentation, I wrote an article for our clinical newsletter on disease-modifying therapy and will follow-up in July's issue on the treatment of MS symptoms themselves. For those of you who don't know much about MS, keep reading...
MS is a chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune disorder that primarily affects the CNS. The body recognizes self as non-self and attacks the myelin sheath surrounding nerves, which leads to decreases in CNS function. There are approximately 350,000 people with MS in the United States, and 4 million people worldwide that suffer from MS. The onset of the disease is generally seen in patients 20-40 years of age and is twice as commonly in females versus males. Primary symptoms of MS are caused by disruptions in CNS function and include muscle spasms, fatigue, pain, vision changes, and loss of bladder control. There are many forms of MS, but most patients experience repeated attacks of worsening function, followed by periods of partial or complete recovery. After 20-25 years, patients have less frequent attacks and begin to experience chronic decline in neurological function. The disease itself is rarely fatal but can be an enormous social, emotional, and financial burden on patients and their families.
Whew.. I typed that all in one breath! I could keep going, too... as you can see, MS is something I feel strongly about. Retail pharmacists can have an enormous impact on patient care by understanding more about MS therapy. I was very grateful for the opportunity to present at the CE dinner (there were about 80 pharmacists there)- the more practice I have speaking in public the better. What's even more exciting was that I had a friend in the audience! Karen is one of the pharmacists I worked with at my former store in Cranston... she was so helpful during my time in the store AND she helped to make the pharmacy fun when she was working. I will miss you next year!
Thanks for coming Karen! You're the best!
Speaking of visitors at my presentation, Debbie (my boss) was supposed to be on vacation last week (my presentation was on Wednesday). She drove to NY to see friends and family on Tuesday and made a special trip to Warwick to watch me present. On Thursday, she drove back to NY to finish her vacation. I am so lucky to have such a great boss. :)
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