PubChem

In the bioinformatics course (BPS114), I get to revisit the NCBI website introduced to me by my bio professor at Pasadena City College. He made us do a genetics project using BLAST, a database within the NCBI website that allows you to search for homologs using a gene sequence. At the time, I hated having to complete the project and was happy to get it over with. Little did I know that I would be doing a lot more genetic research using the same website here at UCSF. It really amazes me how many genes we have sequenced and mapped but I'm really glad that I'm not involved with those projects. They seem so tedious! We even have complete a group project that's worth 30% of our lab grade using those gene databases! I'm so not looking forward to doing it. It's a good thing that we at least got to pick our team members.

Well, I'm studying for the second midterm in this class and not much is getting into my head. I keep on wanting to practice multi-step metabolic reactions for pharmaceutical chemistry instead. However, I managed to find something interesting from studying BPS 114 today: the PubChem database from NCBI! It's really a cool website where we can type in the names of drugs and find structural, chemical and other information for them. It also has a link to PubMed articles using the MeSH tree (a controlled vocabulary to help us refine search) as a search strategy. Through PubChem, I found a link to DailyMed, an NIH website with free information on all FDA-approved drugs. I think that site will become my good friends throughout my years here at UCSF and career as a pharmacist.

OTC/Herbal Patient Counseling Competition

For the first time since I started school at UCSF, I participated in the School of Pharmacy's one of many competitions today. My main motivation for becoming part of the OTC/Herbal Patient Counseling Competition was to show support (since very few of my classmates had expressed any interest). I also wanted to get some hands-on experience in what a therapeutic oral exam would be like, in preparation for next spring quarter's toughest class.

As someone not really living for the "thrill" of competing and inexperienced in working under time constraints, I got really nervous thinking about it last night. Although I regretted signing up for the competition and thought about quitting several times throughout the course of last night and this morning, I decided to bite the bullet for thirty minutes and risked making a fool of myself in front of a panel of judges, composed of two faculty members that I highly respect for their works in herbal medicine (Dr. Cathi Dennehy & Dr. Candy Tsourounis), Dr. William Soller and Chris Nguyen (a UCSF-graduated pharmacist).

With practically no prior preparations, except for our faint OTC knowledge from this year's courses, my partner (Hilary) and I had 15 minutes to read and prepare for our presentations. We were given a case, which contained symptoms of two self-treatable disease states and the patient's information. Hilary SOAPed out the disease state for more thorough presentation while I was responsible for a quick counseling on the simpler disease state. Basically, healthcare professionals use the SOAP sheet as a standardized way to communicate with each other. It contains the patient's subjective and objective information, the pharmacist's assessments of the problem and plans to solve it.

It seemed like we just walked in the preparation room with the case when the five-minute warning was given. We barely had time to read the case and quickly jot down some essential information from memory and the few facts we could look up with the references provided. We were given ten minutes total for the presentations. While Hilary presented the case as if she was sharing the information with other healthcare professionals, I had a little time to mentally organize and strategize my speech. I thought Hilary did an excellent job and was glad that she agreed to take the more involved part.

When she was done, I talked to the judges as if they were my patient. I think I remembered to convey most of the essential information, such as the cause of the problem, the name and class of medication used to treat the condition, desired outcomes, directions for usage, possible side effects, storage information, etc. I think I spoke rather quickly because I couldn't calm my nerves.

I don't think we used up the alloted time, but feel that we did well in general. It would have been better had I not been so nervous, though. Hilary and I both felt that we made a good team. She complimented me on my empathy for the patient.

There was a total of five teams, 2 first-year teams and 3 second-year teams and the top 3 will be rewarded with gift cards (courtesy of The Center for Consumer Healthcare, I think). I have no clue whether we will win since we didn't get to listen to the other teams' presentations. Regardless of the results, I'm glad I stuck to what I had set out to do despite my anxieties about competitions and my presentation skills.

It Takes Only a Few Drops of Black Ink

to stain a beautiful white outfit! I was very sad to hear a medical student say: "What's up with you pharmacy students? I was at a domestic violence conference and some pharmacy students were studying with their flash cards while a panel of speakers were talking about their traumatic experiences!" I was more than mortified to hear that about my fellow student pharmacist and apologized profusely about this inappropriate behavior. I wished I had enough sense then to tell her then that it's the exception and not the rule. Most of my classmates are intelligent, conscientious, warm-hearted individuals who put more than 100% in helping the underserved communities on top of studying. We try so hard to establish ourselves worthy of being included in the decision-making process in the interprofessional healthcare team. Unfortunately, we still have long ways to go..

It's a Spring Thing!

I just finished the 3-week midterm exam marathon, with 2 exams each week! The grades that I have gotten back so far were okay...within the A and B range. There were classes that I wished I had studied more for despite the decent scores. The grades didn't really reflect what I truly did not understand. I have resorted to procrastination and studying "to the test" and not to learn for at least two of them.

I've been having such a hard time focusing these days! There always seem to be better things to do: like running along the coastal trail near Ocean Beach and around Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park; taking, editing & uploading pictures onto Picasa Web Albums ; reading "Eat, Pray, Love" while enjoying a hot bath; watching "Dancing with the Stars;" volunteering for Hep B clinics; etc, etc. Anything but studying. I think I am having too much fun and not doing enough studying!

The funny thing is: I am not the only one slacking off. Many of my classmates are just like me-they can't stay focused on studying. I thought students were the only ones going through this phase, but a professor told me during our conversation yesterday: "I am having a hard time staying indoors these days. It's a spring thing; I just want to get out of my office and be outside. Are you experiencing the 'summer-idus' just like me?"

Well, that says it all. Students are not the only ones anxiously waiting for the arrival of summer!

The Final Quarter of the First Year

Things seem so much easier after the winter quarter packed with difficult classes, shadowing, pledging for a fraternity, etc. There is at least some room to breath with no afternoon classes on most days this quarter. There are challenges this quarter, like anatomy labs with its unbearable formaldehyde fumes, the re-surfacing of kinetics in pharmaceutical chemistry and boring lectures about compounding and infusion devices. However, they are nothing compared to last quarter. I'm glad I survived winter quarter with grades comparable to the first quarter, and without an incomplete mark.

Highlights in CP112

In the first year of pharmacy school at UCSF, we take classes in clinical pharmacy that cover a gamut of general pharmacy-related topics: cultural/diversity sensitivity in patient counseling, over-the-counter drugs, hands-on training on medical devices for common diseases, etc. I would say that the highlights for this quarter's CP112 class were the pulmonary skills lab and the diabetes training workshop.

In the pulmonary skills lab, Dr. Lisa Kroon and Robin Corelli gave us information inhalers commonly used to control asthma and COPD. Coincidently, I was, at the time, suffering from allergy-induced asthma and benefited tremendously from the workshop. After the lecture & demonstrations, I found out that I was using the pirbuterol inhaler incorrectly by not inhaling and holding my breath long enough for the mist to be absorbed in my lungs. I'm so glad we had that workshop, because it not only helped me obtain more benefit from my asthma medication, but I am now better trained to teach my future patients. Using those inhalers correctly can be a great challenge, as I have learned from my experience.

Another good thing that came out of that workshop and the reading on asthma was my medication adherence. I became more compliant in using the corticosteroid nasal spray after reading about the potential pulmonary damage from untreated asthma and the amount of time required for corticosteroids to take effects in the body. Knowing that my Nasonex doesn't start working until after 2 weeks of daily administration, I stuck to the regimen without expecting immediate relief, and finally got my allergies under control. Thankfully, I now do not have to rely on the pirbuterol inhaler for chest tightness because there's no more post-nasal drips to fill my lungs with fluids and cause vasoconstrictions.

Another really cool workshop that I just had last week was the diabetes training, where I tested my blood glucose level and injected myself subcutaneously with saline solution using an insulin needle. The blood test, I have done before, so it was less exciting than the self-injection. It was fun to actually not feel the needle going in at all when I placed the needle on my pinched-up abdominal area at a 90 degree angle. I can now tell my patients that it doesn't feel as bad as it looks when I counsel them on self-injections.

The first final is in two days and I feel so unprepared!

Job Interviews

The recruiters came to UCSF to interview for summer internships and I signed up for four interviews: Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, & Longs Drugs. I felt pretty good after each interview, but I am wondering whether I will be picked for any of the structured programs, which sounded pretty competitive.

My classmates were all dressed in dark-colored suits and I was the only one with a white skirt and pink and white top. There was a lot of waiting in between, but most of it was nice because I actually had time to chat with my classmates. By the end of the day, I was really exhausted and couldn't wait to go home so I could jump into the shower to take off my professional clothes, make-up, and the wax on my hair. Looking pretty isn't easy and I'm glad I'm not a movie star. I would feel horrible having to look pretty in make-up, wax, and uncomfortable clothes all the time.