F I College of Pharmacy
S UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA

The

SAINT PETERSBURG CAMPUS NEWS

Dose

Kappa Epsilon
Brittany Jonap
KE President.

Kappa Epsilon had an ex-
citing month of November!
We teamed up with SNPhA
for our International Din-
ner Fundraiser. The event
was a huge success! We
celebrated with delicious
food from several cultures

and awesome raffle prizes.
KE would like to thank
SNPhA, Donna Simpson
and her committee for all
of their hard work plan-
ning this event. Another
initiative that KE is cur-
rently working on is a mass

[Continued on page 4]
PAIN MANAGEMENT the spine status post radiation
ROTATION and chemotherapy. Currently
Grazia Nuccitelli in 10 out of 10 pain with so-

4PD Student.

matic pain localized to L3

Patient admitted for refractory L5 region that is exacerbated
B-cell lymphoma with mets to by movement. Patient was

Editor's Note
Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have
your attention? I have just been handed an
urgent and horrifying news story, and I
need all of you to stop what you are doing
and listen. Student Council is having elec-
tions! Offices up for election are President,
Vice-president, Secretary, Historian, and
Treasurer. I am biased of course, and urge
people to run for VP because it is clearly the
best position since you get to help put to-
gether this awesome newsletter. More seri-
ously, all of the positions allow you to really
voice your opinion on how events in this
school run. Student council is a rewarding
experience because it is a chance for you to
be listened to, and to create new ideas and
see them through until the end when you
have created a successful new event. If you
have any questions about a position in stu-
dent council or even just how the meetings
go, I encourage you to ask one of the officers
about their position. Derrick Benton is the
president, I am the VP, Nicole Mulas is the
treasurer, Jennifer Parks is the secretary, and
Joseph Hong/Ben Chi is the historian. I also
encourage everyone at the St. Pete campus
to come to the student council election meet-
ing. This includes absolutely everyone. If
you want any say in how things are run,
you need to be there to vote on who you
want to be in charge. Think someone would
make an excellent leader? You can also
nominate people on the discussion board for
student council under our campus link on
blackboard. The link will be posted after
thanksgiving weekend and be up and run-
ning until the elections. Anyone and every-
one is a member of student council and has
the opportunity to vote. The elections will
be held December 8th.

-Katy Saunders
Student Council VP
Katysa33,''if7l i,

[Continued on page 2]

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DECEMBER 2009

PAGE 1

UF College of Pharmacy
UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA SAINT PETERSBURG CAMPUS NEWS

PAIN MANAGEMENT ROTATION AT H. LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER
[Continued from page 1]
started on hydromorphone PCA with 0.7 mg/hr basal and 0.3 mg demand on 10 minute in-
O terval based on at home regimen. \1i7at would you like to do now?

On week 1 of my pain management rotation, rounds were overwhelming. There
were complex patient presentations by the residents and recommendations of opioid
therapies that they did not teach in school. The attending physician of the pain and
palliative team depends on the pharmacist to make recommendations regarding
pain regimens and dosing adjustments. As student pharmacists, it is expected that you help convert
opioids from IV to PO for patient discharge, adjust PCA rates based on patient interviews, recommend
appropriate adjuvant therapy, and provide recommendations for the proper management of side ef-
fects.

On day 1, I was told that we would get one patient between two student pharmacists, and by the end of
the rotation, you would get a patient to yourself, maybe even two if you could manage it. On previous
rotations I was helping the attending physician with a unit of 20 patients; I figured two patients would
be simple. What they didn't tell us was how involved you became with your one patient. In the morn-
ing, you speak with the patient's nurse to see how the patient did overnight, decipher the primary on-
cology team's progress notes to see what the upcoming plan is, interview the patient and the family,
review PCA machine or PRN doses, and then finally take the 20 minutes you have left before rounds to
come up with your plan and write a decent SOAP note. During rounds, you present your patient to the
whole team, make your recommendations and justify your plan. It was safe to say that on week 1, I
was not confident in any of my answers.

By week 4, after reviewing the chart and performing my patient interview, I could answer the scenario
from the top pretty easily and my recommendations were accepted by the team. By week 4, I was
managing two patients and felt comfortable performing interviews. At the end of week 4, I was told
that after completion of this rotation, I knew more about pain management then 90% of other clinicians.
If they had said that on day 1, I doubt I would have believed them but now I do see how little most cli-
nicians know about pain management.

You are told over and over that pain management is a lot of clinical judgments based on each individ-
ual patient's case; anyone can do opioid calculations (it is simple math) and it's what you do with the
those numbers that make you a clinician. It was amazing to work with the Moffitt pharmacists since
they were in charge of evaluating new consults and providing recommendations that were followed by
the attending physician. There are tough moments when you meet a cancer patient your age with a
poor prognosis or when you see how much a patient's pain is affecting their loved ones. Overall
though, it is an amazing experience that helps you practice your patient counseling skills, familiarize
yourself with pain medications, and develop into a more confident clinician.

DECEMBER 2009 PAGE 2

DECEMBER 2009

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UF College of Pharmacy
UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA SAINT PETERSBURG CAMPUS NEWS

FSHP
Britten Peer
FSHP Secretary
The VA tour took place on Saturday October 17th. It was led by the VA pharmacist Mike Tyler who spent two
hours with us discussing the VA system and showing us around both the inpatient and outpatient pharmacies.
We also got to see the VA's new IV clean room and the counseling rooms in the outpatient pharmacy.
He showed us the tube system and crash carts and how the medications are filled each day for each floor in the
hospital. We met several pharmacists in each of the different settings as well as a couple of new Residents.
Overall it was a great tour and a great experience for anyone interested in hospital pharmacy or anyone who is
considering it. The students that attended were: Mike Bonkowski, Eric Neilson, Robert Jacket, Steven Kareka,
Danielle Honein, Puja Patel, Katy Saunders, Ashley Loveless (Gainesville rotation student) and Britten Peer.!

Did You Know?

Submittedby Lindsey Childs
*Swap is a period of time when Dr. Doty allows 3PDs to alter their rotation schedule.
*This is a benefit offered to UF students; most students at other pharmacy schools don't have
this ability!
*Keep in mind: you do not have to undergo swap if you are content with your schedule as it is
given to you.
*Swap is done by choosing rotations on the Vacancy List and letting go of ones currently on your
schedule.
*Alternatively, you can switch rotations with another student (so it may pay off to talk to your
classmates to see if you can do a direct switch).
*Double check the Rotation Exceptions link; all swaps have to abide by these exceptions.
*Make sure to follow Dr. Doty's specified format; you won't get what you want if it's not in the
right format!
*Generally, students are only allowed one non-patient care elective (ie Academic, Administration,
etc.), so don't ask to swap into a second non-patient care elective.
*Think about possibly swapping into a low demand area (ie Pensacola, Okeechobee, etc.). There
are some good rotations available in those areas if you're willing to go.
*Sometimes many people ask to swap into the same rotation; Dr. Doty determines who will get
the rotation.
*If you do not get the rotation you want on a particular round of swap, you can try again on the
next round if the rotation is still available.
*You can swap as many rotations as you like (some people end up changing their entire rotation
schedule by the end of it!).
*Don't be afraid to swap into a potentially challenging rotation or one that will take you out of
your comfort zone. These sometimes end up being the best rotations!
*Good luck and Happy Swapping!

DECEMBER 2009

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UF ]College of Pharmacy
UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA SAINT PETERSBURG CAMPUS NEWS

[Continued from page 1]
mailing to alumni. Kristy Marie Sow-
erby is doing a great job as our Alumni
Liaison. We will be sending holiday
cards and letters to over 200 KE alumni
throughout the Tampa Bay area in the
coming month! This is exciting for our
chapter as we are hoping to establish
new connections, friendships and future
networking opportunities.
On December 1st we will be initiating
the Pledge Class of 2009 into our chap-
ter. Over the past semester they have
worked as a team to hold several events
including a breakfast fundraiser, a bingo
tournament at a local nursing home, ........
and a social for our chapter. We are
proud to be welcoming so many dedi-
cated future pharmacists into our fra-
ternity. After initiation, Bigs and Littles
will be revealed which is always a fun
time for our members!

DECEMBER 2009 PAGE 4

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DECEMBER 2009

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UFI College of Pharmacy
UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA SAINT PETERSBURG CAMPUS NEWS

SNPHA

Autumn Eakinm
SNPhA President
On November 10th, KE and
SNPhA teamed up to provide the
St. Pete Campus with an evening
of food, culture, and fun.
SStudents sampled cuisine
representing countries from
Bulgaria to the Philippines, and
more! Many tried their hand at
making their own sushi, learned
the art of origami, and won big
in the raffles. Thank you to
Donna Simpson, Jessica Rivera,
and all of the KE & SNPhA
members that contributed to
make this unique event such a
success.

December 1st, 2009 WORLD
AIDS DAY
World AIDS Day is observed
every year on December 1st to
raise awareness of the global
AIDS epidemic. Over one million
Americans and 33 million people
worldwide are estimated to be
living with HIV. To support this
HIV/ AIDS awareness initiative,
SNPhA is selling "Remember the
Ribbon" lapel pins for $3 each. To
learn more, check out httpj:
www.hhs.gov/
aidsawarenessdavs. The Tampa
._ _ Bay AIDS Walk that we
.I ii' i I l:, I planned to participate
In on Dec 5th has been
rescheduled to March stay
tuned for updates on a new
event]

DECEMBER 2009 PAGE 5

DECEMBER 2009

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UFICollege of Pharmacy
UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA SAINT PETERSBURG CAMPUS NEWS

CPFI

Katy Saunders
CPFI Secretary
I am sure all of you saw
and hopefully stopped
and experienced it for
yourself, but in case you
did not; CPFI had one of
the most successful FUN-
raisers of the year. Tie-
dye with CPFI was a hit
and provided a great out-
let for students to be
creative and to relax! We
made sno-cones and pro-
vided free tie-dye sup-
plies.
Students tie-dyed every-
thing from jorts to lab-
coats to tank tops. Some
people even dyed
clothes that they had not
intended to dye. The
rain did not stop the fun
either; we moved the
event under the awning
of the pharmacy build-
ing and set up in the
rain. Some people even
had holes in their gloves
and left with purple fin- -.
gers. Hopefully every- -"
one followed through ----
with the instructions on
how to complete their
masterpiece and we can have a showcase at the
next meeting. I think it was a great success and
hopefully people will keep coming out for CPFI
meetings. Our next meeting is the evening of
December 2nd, everyone is invited and we
hope to see you there!

DECEMBER... 209PG:

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DECEMBER 2009

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UF College of Pharmacy
S UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA

SAINT PETERSBURG CAMPUS NEWS

PHARMACY BALL 2009 PHOTOS

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DECEMBER 2009

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UF College of Pharmacy
S UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA

SAINT PETERSBURG CAMPUS NEWS

GAMES

WordJumble.

SAA
VIDAL
ETHYLCHIZAROIDOORD
NAALANEGMIT
ZEMMITHLOAE
TOLANEXAEM

DATES TO REMEMBER
December Ist
FSHP Meeting
Sports Club
December 2nd
CPFI Meeting
December 5th IOth
ASHP Midyear
December 7th
KE Meeting
December 8th
Student Council Elections
December 9th
Sports Club
December 12th 18th
Final Exams

Newsletter Staff
KATHRYN SAUNDERS
Katy (3PD) is the
Editor and Vice
President of
Student Council

I TAN TSAO
(3PD) Assistant to
the Editor and
Photo Editor

LINDSEY
CHILDS
(4PD) Did You
Know and
Rotation Corner
Contributor

DECEMBER 2009 PAGE 5

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DECEMBER 2009

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