Life Off-Label

Yesterday, while at my site visit, I had to make something I hadn’t seen before. When I was done, the pharmacist asks me, “Would you like to do your first counsel?”

Do I? Yes!

Sidenote: I can’t believe how much I’ve already done in my first couple months as a P1. I know a lot of schools don’t start IPPEs in the first semester, and people in Texas can’t even get their intern licenses until after their P1 year is completed, so I realize how awesome it is to get the chance to do things like this so early.

The medication was a Topical Prochlorperazine gel, which is used for to treat nausea. Since sometimes people feel so nauseous that they don’t want to swallow a pill (and would like to avoid the suppository route), they can squeeze their prescribed dose of this gel onto a thin area of skin and rub it in. Preferably, people use their wrist and basically rub their wrists together like they just sprayed on some perfume. It’s also a good alternative to pills because the onset is a little more rapid and people tend to experience fewer side effects. He explained all of this to me, and showed me how to show the patient how to use the syringe and make sure they get the right dose each time.

I felt ready, and he asked if I wanted him to come along. I said he should just to make sure I didn’t miss something, but I wanted to try to do everything on my own. I walked up to counter and introduced myself. As soon as I started talking about the medicine, she informed me that she’s been using it a while and that she already knows what to do, so I didn’t get to do as much counseling as I thought this time around.

On the bright side, I didn’t get a chance to do anything wrong!