Purple Pen Podcast

In this special midweek episode, Dan is joined by NAPSA president Shefali Parekh from Congress in Perth.

Dan and Shefali chat about NAPSA and the Congress, as well as several topical issues, including codeine up-scheduling, pharmacy student numbers, advanced practice and student placements in hospitals.

Dan and Jane talk to David Liew, a Rheumatologist and Clinical Pharmacology fellow.

We talk to David about:

• The difference between biosimilars and generic medicines
• What is currently known about the safety and efficacy of biosimilar products
• Implications for pharmacists dispensing biosimilar medicines

Jane is joined by Dawson MacLeod, a specialist in poisons information from the Victorian Poisons Information Centre.

Jane talks to Dawson about:

· The cardiac QT interval and its clinical significance

· Risk factors for QT prolongation, particularly in the context of drug interactions

· The best way to monitor and calculate a corrected QT interval from an ECG

· Medicines of greatest concern for QT prolongation

The Purple Pen Podcast provides news and education for pharmacists with a focus on Australian clinical pharmacy practice. Brought to you by Austin Health, Alfred Health and the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia.

Jane is joined by Dawson MacLeod, a specialist in poisons information from the Victorian Poisons Information Centre.

Jane talks to Dawson about:

· The cardiac QT interval and its clinical significance

· Risk factors for QT prolongation, particularly in the context of drug interactions

· The best way to monitor and calculate a corrected QT interval from an ECG

· Medicines of greatest concern for QT prolongation

The Purple Pen Podcast provides news and education for pharmacists with a focus on Australian clinical pharmacy practice. Brought to you by Austin Health, Alfred Health and the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia.

Jane and Dan chat online to Dr Michael Ward, a lecturer and researcher at the University of South Australia School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences.

• The emerging importance of drug transporters (eg OAT-P, BCRP) in predicting drug interactions and adverse events
• Current clinical applications for pharmacogenomic testing
• Limitations and future directions for pharmacogenomics tests

Jane chats to Amy Page, Consultant Pharmacist and PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia about:

• What "deprescribing" means in practical terms
• The optimal time to consider ceasing a medicine and how deprescribing is like smoking cessation.
• Patient acceptability, pharmacist and doctor willingness and other potential barriers to deprescribing

Jane and Dan sat down with Dr Bob Feroli, one of the keynote speakers at SHPA MM2016 and the Medication Safety Officer at Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, USA).

We talk to Bob about: Medication safety as a core role of all pharmacists' practice What technology and electronic systems mean for pharmacists and medication safety How to identify a "safe" hospital Why residency programs and teaching are good for the whole profession

Dan and Jane catch up with Kristin Michaels, SHPA CEO with a wrap from the conference, and news on new initiatives from the SHPA.

Dan and Jane ran around the exhibition hall talking to poster presenters - a random selection (of who was available) talk today about their work.

This episode is part of the Humans of Pharmacy series, where we talk to people with a connection to clinical pharmacy who have interesting stories to share.

In this episode Jane talks to Jeanie Misko, Medicines Information Pharmacist at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth.

We talk to Jeanie about being one of Australia's top non-professional book reviewers, how to administer medicine to birds, and nerding out over spreadsheets amongst other things.

The Purple Pen Podcast provides education and news for pharmacists, with a focus on Australian clinical pharmacy practice.