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Year end thoughts 2011

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

2011 brought many new and exciting changes not only in my personal life, but in the world of pharmacy and technology as well. I’ve learned many new things, gained some new skills, made some new friends, explored the world of pharmacy more deeply, traveled more than ever before and discovered that I once again know nothing. I am excited to see what 2012 has to bring.

Below is a list of opinions I’ve gathered over the past 12 months. Some are pharmacy related, some are technology related, some are personal, and some are just random thoughts. If you don’t agree with my opinions that’s fine, but I don’t want to hear about it. On the other hand if you have something useful to add please feel free to leave a comment.

Categories: What'd I miss | Tags: Cool Stuff, Random thought, Thoughts

Merry Christmas 2011

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

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And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch of their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:8-11

Categories: What'd I miss | Tags: Cool Stuff, Random thought

Secundum artem. Yeah, not so much

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

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Merriam-Webster defines secundum artem as "according to the accepted practice of a profession or trade". In pharmacy it typically goes hand in hand with the preparation of extemporaneous compounds, i.e. when you have to make something from scratch. Pharmacists have been doing this since the profession began. Unfortunately it’s a dying art not only because of lack of interest from younger pharmacists, but secondary to increased regulation and bureaucratic red tape as well. It’s a real shame. To put it in perspective it would be like surgeons no longer performing surgery by hand because of the invention of the da Vinci Robot.

Categories: Pharmacy Practice | Tags: Bad, Compounding, Pharmacy Practice, Random thought

ASHP Midyear 2011–Parting thoughts

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

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The ASHP Midyear 2011 Conference basically concluded for me today. I’d like to evaluate the meeting, but honestly have very little to say. This was my first year working in the role of Product Manager for a vendor, and not acting as an “attendee”, i.e I was here for work. The conference took on an entirely different feel this year as I wasn’t able to attend any of the sessions. For the most part I was stuck in the company booth playing the role of demo jockey. It was a strange feeling to say the least. I tried to follow the Twitter stream (#ashpmidyear) a bit, but finally relented and gave up.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: ASHP Midyear, Football, Random thought

National Influenza Vaccination Week December 4-10

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

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Apparently National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) is next week. Who knew?

The CDC has additional information on NIVW here, and a whole lot more information on seasonal influenza (Flu) as well. Need to know more about types of influenza viruses? No problem, you can find that at the CDC site too. The most common form of influenza is Type A. For most healthy people the flu is self-limiting. Sure you feel like crap for a few days, but you get over it and truck on. With that said, influenza can be quite dangerous to elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Get vaccinated.

Categories: Therapeutics | Tags: Random thought

A look back on one year as a product manager

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

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About a year ago I left the comforts of the pharmacy and struck out into the world of product management. It’s not all that dramatic really. I simply thought I needed a change so I jumped over to the dark side and went to work for a company that builds pharmacy automation and technology. Why not, I love pharmacy technology. The move made perfect sense to me at the time.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Jobs, Random thought

Fluted Filter Paper

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

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I grabbed a coffee filter this morning to make a pot of coffee – something I’ve done hundreds of times – when I had a moment of nostalgia. The coffee filter took me back to my days in organic chemistry class in college when I used to create my own fluted filters for gravity filtration. I can’t tell you why I had the flashback. Perhaps it’s my body trying to deal with the 50 pounds of food I’ve ingested over the past couple of days; who knows.

Fluting filter paper is common practice in high school and college chemistry labs across the country. The process is done to increase the speed of the filtration process and give one a larger surface area onto which to collect the sample. Pretty low tech, but cool nonetheless.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Chemistry, Cool Stuff, Random thought

Cool Pharmacy Technology–Demolizer II

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

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I’m at the MEDICA World Forum for Medicine in Düsseldorf Germany this week. While I haven’t seen much in the way of pharmacy related products, I did come across something that I thought was pretty cool. The brochure I grabbed said it was the “Sharps Waste Eliminator” by GMP (Global Medi Products). However when I went to the GMP website for more information I couldn’t find mention of it anywhere. A little creative Googling led me to the BMTS Corp site where I found the device I was looking for. Someone should have a talk with the marketing folks at GMP. Just sayin’.

Categories: Cool Technology | Tags: Cool Stuff, Random thought, Technology

The joy of being a cartoon pharmacist

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

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Pharmacists don’t exactly come to mind when you think of notable characters on TV. That’s why I felt compelled to post the short transcript below. It comes from Mort Goldman, owner of Goldman’s Pharmacy on the Family Guy cartoon series as he stands in front of a school class discussing his job as a pharmacist. It’s pretty funny. I tried to find a video clip, but couldn’t. In this case the written word doesn’t do it justice.

Mort: On the whole, I enjoy my job as a pharmacist. In fact, many of my customers are your mommies and daddies. Jimmy Hopkins, your mother had awful postpartum depression after you were born. And Danielle, your father had bad, very bad hemorrhoids that stung him unmerciful. Oh, they were awful. They were like stinky little balloons. And I gave him some special ointment and he hurt so bad that he had to apply it in the car with his sock. Thank you.

Boy: Cool! I want to be a pharmacist!

Boy 2: Oh, yeah!

________________________

Family Guy Episode: Mr. Saturday Knight - Aired on Tuesday, Jun 08, 2010

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Pharmacist, Random thought

What I miss most, and least about working in a hospital

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Jerry Fahrni

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I left pharmacy practice in November of 2010, so I’ve been out of the hospital for almost a year now. Typically I don’t give it a second thought, but recently I’ve found myself in several inpatient pharmacies face to face with pharmacists and technicians. Pharmacists are always willing to engage in talk about pharmacy practice, clinical situations and how things are going. The technicians are always up for a little conversation about operations, equipment, medication preparation, and so on. I find it quite enjoyable. While I’m not pining for the good old days, I do tend to get a little nostalgic on occasion.
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Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Random thought

Jerry Fahrni

Year end thoughts 2011

Merry Christmas 2011

Secundum artem. Yeah, not so much

ASHP Midyear 2011–Parting thoughts

National Influenza Vaccination Week December 4-10

A look back on one year as a product manager

Fluted Filter Paper

Cool Pharmacy Technology–Demolizer II

The joy of being a cartoon pharmacist

What I miss most, and least about working in a hospital

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