Background: The integration of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in healthcare has changed how healthcare is performed, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of these systems among pharmacists. The ability to navigate EHRs is crucial for pharmacy students' success in introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs and APPEs). This manuscript describes the development and use of an EHR training environment in an APPE-readiness course.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite recent therapeutic advances, metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) remains lethal. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies have demonstrated durable remissions in hematological malignancies. We report results from a phase 1, first-in-human study of prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA)-directed CAR T cells in men with mCRPC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate the impact of a debate activity on pharmacy students' knowledge of public health and health policy topics.
Methods: Forty-six second-year pharmacy students in a required public health and health policy course debated universal healthcare coverage for Americans using the Lincoln-Douglas oral debate format. Demographic data, including age and gender, were collected.
Vancomycin is recommended as first-line treatment of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) bacteremia, dosed by area-under-the-curve (AUC) with an assumed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1 mcg/mL via broth microdilution. The purpose of this study was to compare effectiveness of AUC-based and trough-based dosing in MRSA bacteremia with an MIC > 1 mcg/mL via Etest. This was a retrospective, observational cohort that compared vancomycin dosed by AUC or trough between January 1, 2017 and September 1, 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDaptomycin use for gram-positive infections has increased. This cost minimization analysis aimed to determine cost and/or time savings of daptomycin over vancomycin. The estimated hospital cost savings was US$166.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy is an emerging strategy to improve treatment outcomes for recurrent high-grade glioma, a cancer that responds poorly to current therapies. Here we report a completed phase I trial evaluating IL-13Rα2-targeted CAR-T cells in 65 patients with recurrent high-grade glioma, the majority being recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM). Primary objectives were safety and feasibility, maximum tolerated dose/maximum feasible dose and a recommended phase 2 dose plan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Exposure to breast surgical oncology (BSO) and the multidisciplinary management of patients with breast cancer is limited in medical school. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in student perceptions of BSO as a career following an interactive multidisciplinary workshop.
Methods: Pre-clinical medical students participated in a multidisciplinary, hands-on workshop, composed of breast radiology (BR), breast surgical oncology (BSO) and breast plastic reconstructive surgery (B-PRS).
Invasive fungal infections pose significant morbidity and mortality risks, particularly those caused by moulds. Available antifungal classes are limited by toxicities and are increasingly susceptible to resistance, particularly amongst challenging fungal pathogens. The purpose of this case series and literature review was to characterize the use of a high-dose lipid formulation of amphotericin B.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pediatr Pharmacol Ther
November 2023
Objective: Limited data exist comparing indomethacin and ibuprofen for the treatment of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The objective was to compare the safety and efficacy of indomethacin and ibuprofen for treatment of PDA closure.
Methods: This single-center, pre-test/post-test quasi-experiment included preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit who received indomethacin (July 1, 2013-September 30, 2015) or ibuprofen (December 1, 2015-July 31, 2019) for PDA.
Importance: Addition of pembrolizumab to anthracycline-based chemotherapy improves pathologic complete response (pCR) and event-free survival (EFS) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The efficacy of anthracycline-free chemoimmunotherapy in TNBC has not been assessed.
Objective: To assess the efficacy of the anthracycline-free neoadjuvant regimen of carboplatin and docetaxel plus pembrolizumab in TNBC.
Senior care pharmacists are well-positioned to lead and drive antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) initiatives, not only through audit and data collection, but also through communication, collaboration, and cooperation with prescribers and nurses to influence prescribing behaviors. Senior care pharmacists are in a unique position to take a leadership role within the interprofessional team to achieve AMS goals. They should engage with the interprofessional team to promote the judicious and appropriate use of antimicrobials at their practice sites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) remains an important pathogen in the hospital setting and causes significant morbidity and mortality each year. Since the initial discovery over 60 years ago, vancomycin has remained a first-line treatment for many different types of MRSA infections. However, significant concerns related to target attainment and nephrotoxicity have spurred efforts to develop more effective agents in the last two decades.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Indocyanine green (IcG) is an alternative to isosulfan blue (IB) for sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping in breast cancer (BC). IcG carries improved cost and safety, but oncologic data upon implementation in practice is limited. We evaluated the learning curve defined as oncologic yield and operative (OR) time for IcG in SLN mapping in BC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Early detection and intervention for breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) significantly decreases progression to persistent BCRL (pBCRL). We aimed to provide long-term follow-up on our early detection with bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) and early home intervention demonstrating reduced pBCRL to guide surveillance recommendations.
Patients And Methods: In total, 148 female patients with breast cancer who had axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) from November 2014 to December 2017 were analyzed.
Introduction: Women comprise nearly half of all residents in training, yet there is a significant disparity of women in academic leadership. Surgical subspecialties are dominated by men in both percentages of physicians and leadership positions. We sought to examine the association of advanced non-medical degrees with academic rank and gender in academic surgery departments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To explore the landscape of mentorship within professional associations in pharmacy academia, including reviewing available literature and describing currently available programs within the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and recommend key considerations for the development of mentorship programs within professional associations.
Findings: A literature review of mentorship programs within professional associations for pharmacy academics was conducted, with a total of 5 articles identified and summarized. Additionally, a survey was conducted to determine the landscape of available mentorship programs within American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy affinity groups to capture unpublished experiences.
Background: This study compared dalbavancin with standard of care (SOC) for patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) who were unable to receive outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT).
Methods: This retrospective cohort compared re-admission rates related to the index infection between patients treated with dalbavancin or SOC for SAB. Patients aged ≥18 years seen by the infectious diseases consult service who had received at least one dose of dalbavancin or at least 1 week of SOC parenteral antibacterials as directed therapy for SAB at the time of discharge were included.
Persons with obesity (PwO) represent approximately 50% of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) in the United States (US). There are currently insufficient data in PwO for drugs used for ABSSSIs. We conducted a scoping review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2000 and 2022 to describe how frequently body size measures were reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The clinical and financial consequences associated with a penicillin-allergy label are increasingly evident and have garnered support from international organizations to prioritize penicillin-allergy delabelling programmes. Most settings lack access to resources including drug allergy specialists and rely on general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists.
Objectives: The aim of this scoping review was to identify and describe freely available penicillin-allergy delabelling materials to guide clinicians practising in resource-limited settings with initiative application.
Delays in the treatment of proven invasive fungal disease have been shown to be harmful. However, empiric treatment for all patients at risk of infection has not demonstrated benefit. This study evaluates the effects of a micafungin stewardship initiative on the duration of therapy and clinical outcomes at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF