Pharmacy: The Science Behind & Practice Of Safely Prescribing Drug Combinations To A Patient With Dr Leoni Palmer & Dr Paul McDermott From University of East Anglia

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In this Pharmacy session, Dr Leoni Palmer, Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry, and Dr Paul McDermott, Associate Professor in Medicinal Chemistry, at University of East Anglia will run an interactive talk for students on the Science Behind & Practice of Safely Prescribing Drug Combinations to a Patient.

Leoni and Paul will deliver their talk based on a Clinical Decision Making Case study – which will be an interactive and engaging demonstration of how Pharmacists are the Medicines Experts, working in the problem-solving area of medicines reconciliation. Participants will interactively make clinical decisions based on the comparison of new and current medications prescribed to a patient and culminates in them answering the question posed: what will you prescribe? This will allow students to experience first-hand how a pharmacist makes informed decisions on how to safely prescribe drug combinations to a patient through careful analysis, patient focused care and informed decision making to avoid unwanted side effects, drug interactions and better manage the patient’s general health.

We will then dive into the mode of action of antibiotics, leading into an open discussion that will arrive at an understanding of the pros and cons of utilising antibiotics in the fight against infection and their potential for misuse: Focusing on the science behind antibiotic resistance and how this is relevant in practice as a pharmacist. An important aspect of a pharmacist’s role is antibiotic stewardship: they can prescribe antibiotics over the counter for certain common infections. This practice must be carried out diligently and is enabled by scientific appreciation of the wider impact that mis-prescribing antibiotics can have on our ability to combat antibiotic resistance.

Lecturer Profile (Please Click): Dr Leoni Palmer & Dr Paul McDermott

Our events are designed so that a group of students can take part from a classroom or students and teachers can take part as individuals, either from school or from home. This means that sessions will continue irrespective of possible school closures.

As a live, participative event, this session will not be recorded but slides and other resources will be shared after the event, where available.

Suitable for: Year 12 & 13 students (and equivalent) studying, or with a possible interest in studying, Pharmacy and related disciplines. Student groups as well as students and teachers joining individually are very welcome.

Preparation/Pre-Reading: Students may wish to consider the topic in advance and questions they have. Students can also think about questions about studying Pharmacy at university level.

The IT Setup: The event will be run on Bluejeans (similar to Zoom) and participants will be able to join using laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. If you are joining as a school group, we recommend connecting with one device and projecting on to a whiteboard. You will be able to interact with the university via a microphone and/or typed comments and questions. Full details will be sent to those who have registered (see below) prior to the event.

Booking a Place: This is free for schools and colleges. If you would like to take part in this event, please register your interest using the link to the registration form below:

Register here