Purple Pen Podcast

Jane and Kristin caught up with Sir Harry Burns at MM2019 to discuss what are some of the social causes of wellness. Sir Harry is Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Strathclyde, a surgeon and one of the world's leaders in addressing global health inequality

Recorded live at MM2019, Dan, Kristin and special guest host Viv Banks chat to some more poster presenters about their work.

Visit purplepenpodcast.com for links to the poster abstracts.

In the first of our episodes live from the SHPA Medicines Management 2019 conference, Jane and Kristin asked some poster presenters to talk about their work.

Visit purplepenpodcast.com for links to the poster abstracts.

Dan and Kristin are joined by Dr Rose Cairns from the University of Sydney and the NSW Poison's Information centre to discuss the latest trends in codeine usage.

Dr Cairns' research shows us that since codeine up-scheduled, less codeine overall is being used, patients do not seem to be switching to higher strength codeine products and opioid poisonings are down.

We also discuss whether there has been a switch to other prescription opioids, illicit opioids and the public perceptions of over the counter codeine.

In this episode, Dan and Kristin are joined by Professor Andrew Wilson, chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.

We discuss:

• What the PBAC does
• How it makes decisions on which drugs to recommend for subsidy
• How decisions are made in difficult situations, for example with new drugs with very little long term information, or where prices are exceptionally high

The PBAC is an independent expert body appointed by the Australian Government. Members include doctors, health professionals, health economists and consumer representatives. You can find out more about the work of the PBAC here

If you are interested in learning more about QALY's, Alwyn Smith's 1987 article "Qualms about QALYs" is an interesting place to start.

Jane and Kristin are joined by Nat Tasker and Duncan McKenzie from the SHPA's Medicines Management 2019 conference committee. We discuss highlights, include key plenaries, highlights, workshops and the gala dinner theme!

SHPA Medicines Management 2019 will be held from 14-16 November on the Gold Coast.

Visit the MM2019 website to view the program and register now!

(Sorry for Duncan's audio freaking out around 10 minutes in!)

Jane and Kristin spoke to Dr Bec Szabo, a gynaecologist at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne.

Topics covered in this episode:

• the impact of screening and HPV vaccination on the rate of cervical cancer in Australia

• the complex factors that impact on willingness and comfort discussing women's health

• common myths and misconceptions around women's health

• what the future might hold for greater diversity in healthcare leadership

• whether discussion about Eurovision is a valid method of contraception

Kristin and Dan caught up with Lauren Cortis, pharmacist and PhD candidate to talk about generalism, specialisation and how these interact with patients needing better care.

We discuss:

• The risks of specialisation to patient care, and how patients need generalists as much as specialists
• Why pharmacists specialise and how we can think about the future of pharmacy
• Why all pharmacists should work towards being better generalists
• Why specialisation can cause problems for patients with cancer or chronic disease
• How generalist care isn't just adding together different specialists
• How 'generalist' as a word has negative connotations and how generalism is undervalued

Visit Lauren's Blog to read more of her insightful thoughts

In today's episode, Kristin and Dan are joined by Dr Nisha Khot, obstetrician, educator and RANZCOG counsellor to discuss these common and potentially serious conditions in pregnancy.

We discuss:

• How we define and diagnose gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, and the newer category of HELLP syndrome

• How pregnant womens present with these conditions - typical diagnosis, and new biomarkers

• Risks factors for these conditions

• Treatment and prevention options, including the role of aspirin and calcium supplementation

• Our treatment choices for controlling hypertension in pregnancy

Links from this episode:

Nisha's twitter profile

The Society of Obstetric Medicines of Australian and NZ's Guideline for the Management of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy

Other guidelines from SOMANZ

Summary and Full Text of the MAGPIE trial - demonstrating the benefit of magnesium sulphate in pre-eclampsia

And! Remember that Early Bird Registration for Medicines Management 2019 closes on the 16th of September - not long to go! Register now and save up to $500!

In a special episode of the Purple Pen Podcast, Jane shares the story of her career journey. Originally presented at the 2018 SHPA Medicines Management Conference, Jane was invited to share her story again at Monash University which is where this episode was recorded.

More information about the SHPA mentoring program is available here. Information about the Pharmacist Support Service is available here.