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Archives

Archive for August, 2011

Fourth Year Pharmacy Students Gifty Kusi And Ayman Saleh Are Working on a Partner for Promotion Project in the Drugstore.

Last month, in July, you met fourth year pharmacy student, Gifty Kusi, who was doing a month long rotation in the drugstore. Gifty, who is originally from Ghana, will be graduating from The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy next June. Gifty told us that her unusual, but very charming name means, “Gift from God.” What a lovely name and how nice to know that her parents felt she was a wonderful gift to them.

This month, we have Ayman Saleh, another fourth year pharmacy student, working with us. Ayman came to the United States from Lebanon when he was 18 and has lived in California until moving to Ohio for pharmacy school.

Ayman is a compounding guru and has been giving me a much welcomed break in the lab the past few weeks. Ayman also clearly has the personality to be a pharmacy owner (something he hopes to become someday), as he has taken part in our craziness in the store, even wearing John Allen’s Hee Haw hat. Beyond that, though, Ayman loves to help our customers and devotes a great amount of time and attention to patient interactions.

Both Gifty and Ayman will be with us for several other weeks in the coming year as they are working together on a Partner for Promotion project in the pharmacy that focuses on compounding.

Plain City Druggist has been involved in the Partner for Promotion program over the past few years. Joe acts as a preceptor (a pharmacy mentor) for the students who work on advanced patient care service projects during their final year of pharmacy school. The students, like Gifty and Ayman, who choose to participate in this program are real go-getters, as they don’t receive any extra credit for doing this.  They do, however, learn a lot for their futures as pharmacists.  They also have to be able to manage their time well. The projects usually establish programs in pharmacies that can continue to work after the students are no longer there. These programs include diabetes clinics, OTC counseling programs, cholesterol monitoring, and other important health services that patients need. 

Our former pharmacy student, Kelly Hawk, who is now practicing in St. Louis, Missouri, did a Partner for Promotion project on smoking cessation at Schieber Family Pharmacy in Circleville. 

As I mentioned, the students who participate in the Partner for Promotion program are really motivated to be the best pharmacists they can be. Both Gifty and Ayman hope to have their own independent drugstores some day. 

For this reason, Gifty, Ayman, and third year pharmacy student, Jon McClymont, decided to attend the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Pharmacy Ownership Workshop offered from August 19-21 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jon also hopes to return to his home in Nebraska after graduation and open his own pharmacy. 

Joe and I attended the Pharmacy Ownership Workshop way back in 1997 when it was held in Memphis. Joe was still working at Wal-mart at that time and I was in pharmacy school. Joe was trying to make up his mind about opening a pharmacy and this workshop gave him the confidence to start Plain City Druggist just two years later in 1999. 

We hope the NCPA workshop teaches our students many, many things as they journey to becoming pharmacists. We also hope that their time here with us at Plain City Druggist will also make them ready to be independent pharmacy owners.

Some People Will Do Anything To Get Their “Happy Pills.”

Some people will go to any lengths to leave the pharmacy with their “Happy Pills.” Take for example, Cliff Troyer, who actually came in pretending to have his arm in a cast and sling just so he could slip the Happy Pills in where he thought no one look.

Luckily, our vigilant pharmacy student, Jon, caught on quickly to Cliff’s little scheme. But Jon was a little too late. We think the Happy Pills were already working their magic on Cliff. Look at that huge smile on his face!

The Happy Pills work on everyone. Even Carmen. They’ve brought a huge smile to her face, too. 

Now, just so you’re not confused, the Happy Pills we are promoting are not any kind of hard drugs. They are these adorable stuffed pills that laugh–Happy Pills indeed. Watch the video below and then come in and get your own–just no thievery like Cliff. 

Watch the video of the Happy Pills at work HERE

All Ohio Balloon Festival, August 19 and 20.

The All Ohio Balloon Festival will be held at the Union County Airport located at 760 Clymer Road in Marysville on Friday and Saturday, August 19 and 20. This is the 36th year for the Balloon Festival, which started in 1975. A weekend pass is $5 for adults. Kids 12 and under are FREE.  The Websters will play on Friday evening from 7-10:30 pm. The Reagonomics will play Saturday night from 7-10:30 pm.

There will also be helicopter rides for an additional fee, Kidz City with jumpies/inflatables ($7 fee–all you can jump), sky jumpers, and over 30 balloons (including a Darth Vader balloon from Belgium and the Liberty Head balloon from Connecticut). The Balloon Glow will take place at 8:30 pm both Friday and Saturday nights. The Balloon Glow is something to see with all of the balloons lit up beautifully against the shadows of the approaching night.

Enjoy a fabulous Friday and Saturday filled with food, fun, and lots of balloons.

Join Black and Orange Cat Foundation at the Flea-less Market at BarkPark on August 20 from 9 am to 3 pm.

BarkPark is holding a giant yard sale coupled with an adoption event and a dog wash on Saturday, August 20 from 9 am to 3 pm.  Over twenty-eight animal welfare organizations will be participating with 100% of the proceeds going to help homeless animals.

Besides tons of booths featuring new and used treasures, there will also be a concession stand, a dog wash and nail trim from noon to 3 pm, and dog friendly shopping (dogs on leashes are welcome to browse, too!).

BarkPark is located at 6755 Merchant Road in Delaware (about 5 minutes from Plain City).

We hope you’ll join Black and Orange Cat Foundation at this first ever event. All of the rescue groups will be lined up along the grass next to the driveway at BarkPark. It should be a fun and exciting day to help animals in central Ohio.

Click on the flyer to the right to enlarge and print.

Athlete’s Foot. By Ayman Saleh, Our 4th Year Pharmacy Student And Fungus Specialist.

Athlete’s foot is the most common skin infection in the U.S. with more than 25 million people afflicted every year. Caused mainly by fungi known as dermatophytes (Greek for “skin plants”), athlete’s foot is usually localized at the outermost layer of the skin and rarely penetrates to the inner tissue. Yet, with a minor injury to the skin, the fungi can find their way deep into the tissue and the infection can lead to serious consequences including toe or limb amputation.

Athlete’s foot is contagious and can be spread by direct contact or by walking barefoot in areas such as locker rooms and around swimming pools where the fungus has been deposited from other feet. Stuffing the fungus (and our feet) into shoes lacking proper air circulation then allows the fungi to grow.

With the Midwest summer being sweltering hot and humid this year (as it usually is), our feet get exposed to sweat for prolonged periods. The moisture in the inner surface of the shoes creates the ideal environment for the fungi to grow and multiply. Often these fungi are eradicated upon exposure to air or sun. However, lack of proper hygiene significantly increases the chances of acquiring the fungal infection.

Diabetic patients and patients who are taking immunosuppressive medications are at a significantly higher risk for experiencing complicated fungal infections, not only because of the impaired circulation of blood to their feet, but also because of the inability of their body to fight infections.

Because prevention is the best treatment, taking precautionary measures to avoid infection is the key to having healthy feet.

First, we suggest keeping the feet dry at all times. Using a drying powder can help close the pores and prevent sweating.

Additionally, wearing and regularly changing loose fitting socks that are made out of natural cotton or wool can also help in absorbing the moisture.  Synthetic socks often contain ingredients that increase perspiration of the feet and do not absorb moisture well.

Another trick to prevent athlete’s foot is to expose the feet to sun light and air for a few minutes every day. Washing your feet with hot water can also help.

Athlete’s foot infections are easy to identity and usually do not require medical attention. The infection is found most often between the fourth and the fifth toes.  Itching, scaling, and maceration (softening and whitening of the skin after being consistently wet–the way your toes and fingers look after soaking in a bath tub) of the skin is often seen. Inflammation or blistering might also occur. 

In the more serious infections, the infection is accompanied by pustules or ulcers on the sole of the foot, as well as thickened, white scales that can cover the entire foot. These types of infections require medical intervention and your doctor should examine your feet if you have these symptoms.

For simple, uncomplicated athlete’s foot infections, over-the-counter products most often eradicate the fungi and clear the infection. Antifungal agents, not antibiotic topicals, should be used to treat the infection. Our crew at Plain City Druggist can you help you select the right product. The infection usually gets cleared up in one to two weeks. If this is a recurring infection, however, using the topical creams for an additional week or two is advised. 

Interestingly, the infection can sometimes spread to the palm of the hand, but only one hand at time. Often people present with two feet and one hand infected. No one knows why only one hand gets infected!