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Archives

Archive for October, 2021

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. By Our Student Pharmacist, Joe Raney.

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Every two minutes a woman is diagnosed with breath cancer in the United States. Breast cancer is the most common cancer for women in the United States, and it is the second most common cause of cancer related death in women after lung cancer.

The good news is that 63% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at a stage where the 5-year survival rate is 99%. This is due in part to breast cancer screening, but more on that later.

First, how do we reduce the risk of developing breast cancer?

Cancer Prevention:

Your risk of developing cancer can be reduced by using these four strategies from the American Cancer Society.
They are:

  • achieve and maintain a healthy body weight
  • be physically active
  • follow a healthy eating plan
  • avoid alcohol

Achieve or Maintain a Healthy Body Weight:

To help achieve or maintain a healthy body weight you should first talk to your doctor about what a healthy body weight is for you and create a plan for how to achieve or maintain it.

Physical Activity:

The American Cancer Society recommends an exercise plan with around 150-300 minutes of moderate exercise each week, or 75-150 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week. One way of completing this could be by going on a brisk walk for 20-30 minutes five to six times per week.

Follow a Healthy Eating Plan:

Consume a diet with a variety of different colored vegetables and fruits. Foods that are high in nutritional value can help you maintain a healthy body weight.

Healthy eating plans are ones that limit red and processed meats, sugary beverages, highly processed foods, and refined grain products. When you consume carbohydrate rich foods, such as breads and pasta, make sure they are whole grain products.

Avoid Alcohol:

It is best not to drink alcohol. When consuming alcohol, it is best to limit your intake to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.

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Breast
Cancer Screening:

Breast cancer screenings are an important part of lowering your risk for severe breast cancer. The first step in determining what needs to be done for your screenings would be talking to your doctor about your breast cancer risk. There are many different items that can factor into determining your risk of developing breast cancer. Your doctor will help you create a plan for what kind of screenings you need, and how often you should receive them.

Likely, an important part of a plan would be having a mammogram done every two years for those ages 50-74. A mammogram is a machine that uses X-rays to detect breast cancer. Although it can be an uncomfortable procedure, it can detect breast cancer up to three years before the cancer can be felt with the hands. Mammograms are part of the reason why 63% of breast cancers cases are diagnosed at a stage where the 5-year survival rate is 99%.

Only 67% of women ages 40 and older have had a mammogram in the last two years. If you find yourself in the 33% of women who have not had one done, ask your doctor for a recommendation about breast cancer screenings during this Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Resources:

Breast Cancer; CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/index.htm

Guideline for Diet and Physical Activity; American Cancer Society: https://www.cancer.org/healthy/eat-healthy-get-active/acs-guidelines-nutrition-physical-activity-cancer-prevention/guidelines.html

Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines for Women; CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/pdf/breast-cancer-screening-guidelines-508.pdf

 

 

Please Welcome Joe Raney Who Will Be Our Student Pharmacist at Karl Road for the Month of October.

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This month, we are joined at Happy Druggist on Karl Road by Joe Raney, a fourth-year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Joe will graduate in May 2022 and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Joe will be with Kristie and the staff on Karl Road throughout October, so please stop by and meet him while he is in the store in Columbus.

Here is what Joe tells us about himself:

Hello! My name is Joe Raney. I am a student pharmacist with Kristie Holliday for the month of October. I attend pharmacy school at The Ohio State University, and I am in my final year of pharmacy school.  I also completed my undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University where I graduated with a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Prior to coming to Columbus, I grew up in Washington, Illinois which is a small town outside of Peoria, Illinois. 

I am a big Ohio State football fan. Outside of watching the Buckeyes, my favorite TV show is Jeopardy. I try to watch it when I’m not busy with school and work.

I plan on running the Columbus Marathon on the 17th of this month. I’m looking forward to getting the marathon over with so I can spend more time watching Jeopardy and college football.

When I was in high school, I felt pharmacy would be a good career for me because I enjoyed chemistry, and I wanted to be an accessible healthcare provider. I chose Ohio State because in their program I would graduate with a bachelor’s degree if I didn’t want to go to pharmacy school. Due to the great professors and pharmacists I was able to work with, I ended up staying the course and chose to go to pharmacy school at Ohio State.

Throughout undergrad and pharmacy school, I have worked at the Medication Management Program. This is a tele-pharmacy at the college of pharmacy. In this program, we work with health plans to provide education to their higher risk patients to help them better understand their medications. I feel providing patient education is a critical aspect of pharmacy as we hope to expand the roles of a pharmacist in the healthcare setting.  Patient education is an aspect of pharmacy I feel many community pharmacists do not have the opportunity to provide due to the high workload some pharmacists are under. This is one reason I am excited to spend this month at Happy Druggist as they have shown a willingness to be on the frontlines of expanding the clinical services a pharmacy can offer.

During this school year, I have had the opportunity to work at Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio, Grant Medical Center, Marion General Hospital, and Kroger Pharmacy. This month will be my first experience working in an independent pharmacy. I am looking forward to learning more about pharmacy billing and the trends in independent pharmacies.

At the end of this rotation, I hope to be able to better explain some of the difficulties independent pharmacies face due to the structure of the insurance system. After this month, I have the month of November off rotation. With that, I look forward to being able to travel to see my family for Thanksgiving, visit with friends, and again watch more college football.

Please Welcome Fatima Shah Our Student Pharmacist for October from The Ohio State University.

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This month, we are joined at Plain City Druggist by Fatima Shah, a fourth-year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Fatima will graduate in May 2022 with her PharmD degree and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Fatima will be with Meghan, Tayler, and the staff here in Plain City throughout October, so please stop by and meet her while she is here.

Here is what Fatima tells us about herself:

My name is Fatima Z. Shah and I am currently a fourth year pharmacy student. I started my journey into pharmacy as a pharmacy technician at Kroger Pharmacy in Michigan. I was able to see how my pharmacist impacted patients daily by managing their medications.

Currently, I work part time as a pharmacy intern at Giant Eagle Pharmacy and enjoy making a difference within my community every day.

During pharmacy school, I took part in extracurricular activities. I was an active member in the Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SSHP) and a treasurer for my organization Cultural Awareness, Respect, and Equity for Pharmacists. In these organizations, I was able to increase my clinical knowledge and also improve my leadership, organizational, and financial skills.

Apart from pharmacy, my hobbies include traveling, spending time with my family, friends, and my pets. I always enjoyed traveling. Some countries I have been able to visit include India, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Since I am graduating soon, I will be traveling to Florida in December and Mexico in 2022.

For the longest time, I knew I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. My initial goal that drove me into healthcare was to help my patients reach their health goals.

As a pharmacist, we are always the first and last to encounter our patients. Patients usually approach the pharmacy if they have any health issues or need help them with over-the-counter (OTC) options or a referral for an item.  Also, patients approach the pharmacy to pick up their prescription medications.

Pharmacists play a huge role in healthcare and this made me want to pursue a career in pharmacy. I received my bachelor’s degree in pharmacy at Dubai Pharmacy College. During my time there, I was introduced to the field of pharmacy and I learned different roles pharmacist had in different countries. I learned about different cultures and what role that has in pharmacy and medications.

I moved back to my hometown in Michigan after I graduated, and I was able to further pursue my degree as a PharmD at OSU. While pursuing my degree at OSU, I was able to gain clinical knowledge in various disease states which I believe will make me a better pharmacist.

As an APPE student, I am continuously learning what I want to do as a future pharmacist. The past months, I have been learning from my rotations what I would enjoy doing in the future. For example, I personally always enjoyed community pharmacy and my initial goal was to become a community pharmacist in Iowa or specialize as an oncology pharmacist. However, I really enjoyed my ambulatory/community experience at the Charitable Pharmacy and, in the future, I want to open a Charitable Pharmacy in Iowa. I want to apply to residency in December to specialize in ambulatory care or community pharmacy.

In this rotation, I look forward to increasing my knowledge in the administration part of pharmacy. Also, my first oncology rotation is going to be in November, and I also feel like that experience is going to help me finalize my goals if I would want to specialize in oncology or ambulatory/community pharmacy.

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