In an episode to mark National Reconciliation week, Dan and Kristin spoke to Chastina Heck and Aleena Williams. Chastina is a clinical pharmacist at Logan Hospital and an Associate Lecturer at the University of Queensland. Aleena is the Director of Immunisations at the Northern Territory Public Health Directorate. Chas and Aleena are both proud Aboriginal women and pharmacists. In this episode, they share their personal and professional stories with us. National Reconciliation Week is from May 2...
Jun 01, 2020•49 min
Kristin flies solo this week to talk to Dr Lisa Kouladjian O'Donnell, a consultant pharmacist and postdoctoral research associate affiliated with the NHMRC Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre, The University of Sydney, and the Kolling Institute, Royal North Shore Hospital, NSW. Kristin and Lisa discuss: definitions of polypharmacy and deprescribing drivers of polypharmacy at-risk populations a collaborative approach to deprescribing the Drug Burden Index (DBI) calculator You can read more about...
May 10, 2020•27 min
Kristin & Dan spoke to Prof Ramon Shaban, Clinical Chair of Infection Prevention and Disease Control, University of Sydney and Western Sydney Local Health District We covered Australia's interventions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 Testing of COVID-19, including the difference between antibodies, antigens & PCR testing. Are false negatives an issue? The challenges of doing a good swab Asymptomatic spread and how significant it is in Australia Face masks, how they should be used and the...
Apr 25, 2020•35 min•Ep. 97
Dan caught up with Mel Ankravs, chair of the SHPA Critical Care Leadership Group and Senior Pharmacist at the Royal Melbourne for a brief chat about the basics to caring for COVID-19 patients in the ICU. We couldn't cover everything in this episode, but Mel recommends these resources for a deeper dive: National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce - an Australian repository of evidence for the management of COVID-19 Introduction to Critical Care: A COVID-19 Rapid Response document - a bigger int...
Apr 18, 2020•28 min•Ep. 96
Kristin and Dan spoke to Professor Mary-Louise McLaws from the University of New South Wales Faculty of Medicine. Professor McLaws is a renowned infection control expert with extensive experience in novel viruses such as SARS. She is also an expert on pandemics and outbreak investigations. We covered: • Why do novel virus cause so much concern compared to known entities such as the flu? • How does COVID-19 compare to influenza or SARS? • The finer points of quarantine • An overview of surgical v...
Mar 07, 2020•50 min•Ep. 95
Kristin and Jane spoke to Professor Alex Broom from the University of Sydney. Alex is Professor of Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Social Policy. We asked Alex: What is sociology, and how does it apply to studies of healthcare and illness? How are principles of sociology particularly relevant to addressing rising antimicrobial resistance? What effect does organisational culture have on the use of antimicrobials? How can sociology principles be used as a stewardship tool? You can rea...
Feb 29, 2020•28 min
WE'RE BACK! Happy 2020 to all our listeners! Today Kristin and Dan are joined by Dr Tanya Karaconji, Ophthalmologist at Sydney Eye Hospital, where we discuss a number of topics related to eye emergencies. We discuss: Red flags for selling chloramphenicol Eye drops made of swimming pool tablets How damaging one eye can make you lose both Intravitreal injections and culturing the eye jelly Hourly eye drops for keratitis...
Feb 15, 2020•27 min•Ep. 93
In the last of our episodes from MM2019, we spoke to the 2019 SHPA Medal of Merit winner, Tom Simpson. Tom is the Executive Director for statewide hospital pharmacy in Tasmania. He gave us a recap of his excellent oration, based around five pieces of advice for his younger self. You can read more about Tom and the SHPA Medal of Merit here
Dec 28, 2019•16 min
Jane and Kristin caught up with Sir Harry Burns at MM2019 to discuss what are some of the social causes of wellness. Sir Harry is Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Strathclyde, a surgeon and one of the world's leaders in addressing global health inequality
Dec 14, 2019•19 min•Ep. 91
Recorded live at MM2019, Dan, Kristin and special guest host Viv Banks chat to some more poster presenters about their work. Visit purplepenpodcast.com for links to the poster abstracts.
Nov 30, 2019•22 min
In the first of our episodes live from the SHPA Medicines Management 2019 conference, Jane and Kristin asked some poster presenters to talk about their work. Visit purplepenpodcast.com for links to the poster abstracts.
Nov 16, 2019•17 min•Ep. 89
Dan and Kristin are joined by Dr Rose Cairns from the University of Sydney and the NSW Poison's Information centre to discuss the latest trends in codeine usage. Dr Cairns' research shows us that since codeine up-scheduled, less codeine overall is being used, patients do not seem to be switching to higher strength codeine products and opioid poisonings are down. We also discuss whether there has been a switch to other prescription opioids, illicit opioids and the public perceptions of over the c...
Nov 02, 2019•29 min•Ep. 88
In this episode, Dan and Kristin are joined by Professor Andrew Wilson, chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. We discuss: What the PBAC does How it makes decisions on which drugs to recommend for subsidy How decisions are made in difficult situations, for example with new drugs with very little long term information, or where prices are exceptionally high The PBAC is an independent expert body appointed by the Australian Government. Members include doctors, health professional...
Oct 19, 2019•28 min•Ep. 87
Jane and Kristin are joined by Nat Tasker and Duncan McKenzie from the SHPA's Medicines Management 2019 conference committee. We discuss highlights, include key plenaries, highlights, workshops and the gala dinner theme! SHPA Medicines Management 2019 will be held from 14-16 November on the Gold Coast. Visit the MM2019 website to view the program and register now! (Sorry for Duncan's audio freaking out around 10 minutes in!)
Oct 05, 2019•27 min•Ep. 86
Jane and Kristin spoke to Dr Bec Szabo, a gynaecologist at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne. Topics covered in this episode: the impact of screening and HPV vaccination on the rate of cervical cancer in Australia the complex factors that impact on willingness and comfort discussing women's health common myths and misconceptions around women's health what the future might hold for greater diversity in healthcare leadership whether discussion about Eurovision is a valid method of contracept...
Sep 22, 2019•39 min
Kristin and Dan caught up with Lauren Cortis, pharmacist and PhD candidate to talk about generalism, specialisation and how these interact with patients needing better care. We discuss: The risks of specialisation to patient care, and how patients need generalists as much as specialists Why pharmacists specialise and how we can think about the future of pharmacy Why all pharmacists should work towards being better generalists Why specialisation can cause problems for patients with cancer or chro...
Sep 08, 2019•29 min•Ep. 84
In today's episode, Kristin and Dan are joined by Dr Nisha Khot, obstetrician, educator and RANZCOG counsellor to discuss these common and potentially serious conditions in pregnancy. We discuss: How we define and diagnose gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, and the newer category of HELLP syndrome How pregnant womens present with these conditions - typical diagnosis, and new biomarkers Risks factors for these conditions Treatment and prevention options, including the role of ...
Aug 25, 2019•34 min•Ep. 83
In a special episode of the Purple Pen Podcast, Jane shares the story of her career journey. Originally presented at the 2018 SHPA Medicines Management Conference, Jane was invited to share her story again at Monash University which is where this episode was recorded. More information about the SHPA mentoring program is available here . Information about the Pharmacist Support Service is available here ....
Aug 11, 2019•18 min
Kristin and Dan were joined by Toni Howell, Medication Safety pharmacist from St V's in Melbourne, and Chair of the SHPA Specialty Practice Leadership Group in Med Safety. We had a really enjoyable chat, covering lots of topics, including: A day in the life of a med safety pharmacist The benefits of joining your SHPA Specialty practice group Handling of medicines The importance of managing risk Pros and Cons of Electronic medication management How medication safety is everyone's job and crowd-so...
Jul 28, 2019•31 min•Ep. 81
Jane and Dan caught up with Dr Tanya Selak, anaesthetist, Tweeter and co-host of the MedEd StuffNNonsense podcast. We chat about silos and building good relationships in hospitals, common issues managing medicines in the peri-operative period and shortages, ah shortages… You can follow Tanya on Twitter here and check out the MedEd StuffNNonsense podcast here and here ....
Jul 14, 2019•38 min
Jun 30, 2019•28 min•Ep. 79
In a special episode of the podcast, Dan caught up with Sejla and Rustie from the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) about strategies for preventing and reducing harm from prescription medicines. Sejla and Rustie have some great practical and personal insights to share. The resources that we discussed are available here: SafeScript (Victoria) training and information ADF Drug Facts...
Jun 16, 2019•39 min
Dan and Kristin welcomed Cia Connell back to the podcast to tell us about some recent publications to guide management of atrial fibrillation. Cia is a clinical manger with the Heart Foundation and a specialist cardiology pharmacist. We cover a lot of ground in this episode, from the basics of rate vs rhythm control to the most recent international guidelines. You can read more here: The AUGUSTUS trial The CABANA trial National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Cardiac Society of Australia a...
Jun 02, 2019•37 min
This episode we celebrate the release of the new Therapeutic Guidelines - Antibiotic! Jane and Kristin are joined by Senior Editor Jess Gibney and Dr Emily Tucker, ID Physician from Flinders Medical Centre to discuss what's new and what's changed. Things we learnt include: How to say Happy Easter in Greek How Therapeutics Guidelines put its expert groups together The process of updating guidelines Why TG is no longer being published in hard copy Changes to surgical prophylaxis recommendations Th...
May 19, 2019•37 min•Ep. 76
Kristin and Jane are joined by Professor Jonathan Iredell, ID and Microbiology Consultant at Westmead and Professor of Medicine and Microbiology and Sydney Medical School. We discuss: What is a bacteriophage? How can they help in a battle against antimicrobial resistance? How do we use them? What's the dose and route of administration? Which infections can they be used for? How can they be regulated? What adverse effects can we expect from phage therapy? Further reading: The Perfect Predator: A ...
May 05, 2019•24 min•Ep. 75
Jane and Kristin spoke to David Ellis, a senior specialist pharmacist and team leader for non-sterile production at the Women's and Children's hospital in Adelaide. He's also a contributor to the Australian Don't Rush to Crush Handbook. We spoke to David about the newest edition of Don't Rush to Crush. Monographs now contain information on the best way to give a dose that is less than a whole tablet or capsule. David talks us through the development of the new information and common pitfalls in ...
Apr 20, 2019•17 min
Jane and Kristin spoke to Dr Sam Costello, a gastroenterologist from South Australia about Faecal Microbiota Transplants - more loosely known as "poo transplants". It's a fascinating discussion about the practicalities around screening donors, administration of FMT and the emerging evidence for this treatment.
Apr 06, 2019•27 min
Kristin and Jane caught up with Professor Anne Duggan, a gastroenterologist, and Meredith Page, a pharmacist, who work at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care We spoke about: What is healthcare variation and why do we measure it? Is variation necessarily a bad thing? How does Australia compare internationally with what is measured in our Atlas, for example medication us or surgery? How measuring healthcare variation can be used to enact change Find out more about the Au...
Mar 23, 2019•26 min•Ep. 72
f you found any of the topics discussed in this episode distressing, you can reach out for confidential advice to Pharmacists Support Service at supportforpharmacists.org.au or on 1300 244 910. Our medical colleagues can visit the Australasian Doctors' Health Network - adhn.org.au Dan and Jane are joined by Dr Ash Witt, a Physician trainee to discuss the issue of wellbeing in the medical workforce. We discuss: How the current system lets down junior doctors What a typical career path for a junio...
Mar 09, 2019•32 min•Ep. 71
Kristin and Dan get back to basics in Haematology from Dr Ian Bilmon, a Haematologist & BMT Physician at Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre, Westmead and Sydney Adventist Hospital We talk about: the most common haematological malignancies and how they differ How these conditions present, what initial treatment looks like and how the prognosis differs What's on the horizon for Haematology
Feb 23, 2019•30 min
