MU | From Features the Editor
“ Whether it ’ s in the medical reconciliation part of it , such as gathering medication history , or on the research side , I try to get them involved ,” she said . “ When appropriate , I ’ ll have them talk to our physicians about what the results mean for the patient .”
“ When it comes to having students in the clinic , I try to incorporate them in the workflow depending on their knowledge and comfort level ,” said Hockings . “ Obviously , having students coming from Manchester where they have general pharmacogenomics knowledge helps .”
functions , and then how that technology is put into action to help improve patient care .”
And Baron said that ’ s the goal when it comes to students – to give them an idea of what it would be like to work in pharmacogenomics in real-world scenarios . It ’ s important for students to spend time with different aspects of pharmacy and pharmacogenomics because not all pharmacists do the same thing , she said .
“ In Aaron ’ s case , one thing he did was put together a pharmacogenomics webinar series for anybody in the company
“ The whole idea of taking patient information and assimilating that to provide the best pharmacotherapy is something that we ’ ve been aiming for throughout the history of pharmacy .” – Dr . David Kisor
Hockings sees less of a learning curve in these scenarios and tries to get students involved in a variety of aspects in the world of pharmacogenomics .
For Perkins , his Invitae rotation in Seattle looked a bit different due to the COVID-19 pandemic .
Invitae is a genomic testing company that is branching out into other areas of genomic medicine , including software and data , said Perkins ’ preceptor , Valerie Baron , Pharm . D ., a pharmacogenomics pharmacist and product lead at Invitae .
“ The mission of the company is really to bring accessible genomics to mainstream medicine ,” Baron said .
Perkins described his experiential rotation as a comprehensive look at pharmacogenomic technology and applications .
“ Dr . Baron oversaw a number of different clinical pharmacists within Invitae , and each one of them had their own skill sets ,” Perkins said . “ I got to see the development and work that goes into how the technology
Top : David Kisor , Pharm . D ., professor of pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacogenomics who had an interest , because PGx was new to Invitae ,” Baron said . “ His webinars focused on a few main topic areas , like PGx and pain management , PGx and oncology , and PGx and cardiology .”
For both Line and Perkins , they consider their pharmacogenomics rotations an invaluable component of their Manchester experience .
“ I consider myself a lifelong learner . I ’ m always trying to pick up on new knowledge ,” said Perkins . “ So , for me , pharmacogenomics being a newer , emerging field within pharmacy , it allows me the opportunity to gain a new skill set to add to my repertoire in order to really help make a difference for patients .”
Line also views expertise in pharmacogenomics as a valuable tool for the future of pharmacy .
“ I realized that if I ’ m going to be in this field , then I really want to have all the tools that I can to be the best pharmacist I can be ,” she said . “ And pharmacogenomics is definitely something that I knew would be valuable right now , but especially in the future as the field continues to grow .”
By Matt Walker
10 Manchester University | ManchesterRx