Purple Pen Podcast

To celebrate our 100th episode, we’re bringing you some highlights packages. First up is a recap of our five most downloaded episodes: Episode 1: Antibiotic Allergies with Jason Trubiano (with an update for Episode 50) Episode 45: Why tramadol sucks with David Juurlink Episode 49: Cardiovascular Therapeutic Guidelines update with Jane O’Connor and Dan Scherer Episodes 55 and 56: Antibiotic pharmacokinetics with Jason Roberts Episode 70: Haematology Basics with Ian Bilmon

In an episode to mark National Reconciliation week, Dan and Kristin spoke to Chastina Heck and Aleena Williams. Chastina is a clinical pharmacist at Logan Hospital and an Associate Lecturer at the University of Queensland. Aleena is the Director of Immunisations at the Northern Territory Public Health Directorate. Chas and Aleena are both proud Aboriginal women and pharmacists. In this episode, they share their personal and professional stories with us. National Reconciliation Week is from May 27 to June 3 2020. You can learn more here.

Kristin flies solo this week to talk to Dr Lisa Kouladjian O'Donnell, a consultant pharmacist and postdoctoral research associate affiliated with the NHMRC Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre, The University of Sydney, and the Kolling Institute, Royal North Shore Hospital, NSW. Kristin and Lisa discuss: definitions of polypharmacy and deprescribing drivers of polypharmacy at-risk populations a collaborative approach to deprescribing the Drug Burden Index (DBI) calculator You can read more about Lisa’s work here. The Goal-directed Medication review Electronic Decision Support System (G-MEDSS) is here.

Kristin & Dan spoke to Prof Ramon Shaban, Clinical Chair of Infection Prevention and Disease Control, University of Sydney and Western Sydney Local Health District   We covered Australia’s interventions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 Testing of COVID-19, including the difference between antibodies, antigens & PCR testing. Are false negatives an issue? The challenges of doing a good swab Asymptomatic spread and how significant it is in Australia Face masks, how they should be used and the basics of transmission What we know so far about reinfection and vaccination for COVID-19

Dan caught up with Mel Ankravs, chair of the SHPA Critical Care Leadership Group and Senior Pharmacist at the Royal Melbourne for a brief chat about the basics to caring for COVID-19 patients in the ICU.   We couldn’t cover everything in this episode, but Mel recommends these resources for a deeper dive: National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce - an Australian repository of evidence for the management of COVID-19 Introduction to Critical Care: A COVID-19 Rapid Response document - a bigger introduction from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society  

Kristin and Dan spoke to Professor Mary-Louise McLaws from the University of New South Wales Faculty of Medicine. Professor McLaws is a renowned infection control expert with extensive experience in novel viruses such as SARS.  She is also an expert on pandemics and outbreak investigations. We covered: • Why do novel virus cause so much concern compared to known entities such as the flu? • How does COVID-19 compare to influenza or SARS? • The finer points of quarantine • An overview of surgical vs N95 masks and what is appropriate for COVID-19 • The treatments (remdesivir, chloroquine & angiotensin II receptor antagonists) for COVID-19 and when we can expect a vaccine for prevention 

Kristin and Jane spoke to Professor Alex Broom from the University of Sydney. Alex is Professor of Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Social Policy.  We asked Alex: What is sociology, and how does it apply to studies of healthcare and illness? How are principles of sociology particularly relevant to addressing rising antimicrobial resistance? What effect does organisational culture have on the use of antimicrobials? How can sociology principles be used as a stewardship tool? You can read more about Alex’s work on his University of Sydney Researcher Page.

WE’RE BACK! Happy 2020 to all our listeners! Today Kristin and Dan are joined by Dr Tanya Karaconji, Ophthalmologist at Sydney Eye Hospital, where we discuss a number of topics related to eye emergencies. We discuss: Red flags for selling chloramphenicol Eye drops made of swimming pool tablets How damaging one eye can make you lose both Intravitreal injections and culturing the eye jelly Hourly eye drops for keratitis

In the last of our episodes from MM2019, we spoke to the 2019 SHPA Medal of Merit winner, Tom Simpson. Tom is the Executive Director for statewide hospital pharmacy in Tasmania. He gave us a recap of his excellent oration, based around five pieces of advice for his younger self. You can read more about Tom and the SHPA Medal of Merit here

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 S

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.

Kristin and Dan were joined by Toni Howell, Medication Safety pharmacist from St V’s in Melbourne, and Chair of the SHPA Specialty Practice Leadership Group in Med Safety. We had a really enjoyable chat, covering lots of topics, including: A day in the life of a med safety pharmacist The benefits of joining your SHPA Specialty practice group Handling of medicines The importance of managing risk Pros and Cons of Electronic medication management How medication safety is everyone’s job and crowd-sourcing patient care Bad handwriting (Doctors AND pharmacists) Nudging people to identify more med safety A reminder! If you are an SHPA member you can join a a Specialty Practice Interest Group. And practice group members are eligible to stand for election to the Leadership Committee.