Livers, Kidneys, and Hearts Oh My!

I have enjoyed working at Seattle Children's for the past  two months.  I have started staffing independently some but I am mostly still training. All their pharmacists (whether strictly distribution pharmacists or floor/clinical/rounding pharmacists) are trained to do all positions in the main pharmacy from IV room to order entry to OR pharmacy to in-charge pharmacist. I was hired to be an inpatient pharmacist to rotate in these areas in the main pharmacy and do distribution solely.

Good news for pharmacists in the area is that the hospital is expanding and so is the pharmacy department. They currently have around 40 pharmacists employed and have recently added 3 new positions in the past couple of weeks, a PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) pharmacist, a SOT (solid organ transplant) pharmacist, and a educator pharmacist. They posted these 3 positions internally first and I jumped on the opportunity to apply! I completed a residency last year with the goal of attaining a clinical/floor position at a pediatric hospital. I knew when I accepted the inpatient pharmacist job at Seattle Childrens that they would be hiring more clinical pharmacist in the future but I did not know it would be so soon! My ideal job is one that includes inpatient interaction with the physicians, nurses, nutritionist, etc and also outpatient interaction with health care workers, parents and kids. The SOT position is exactly what I wanted. I gained some experience and an increased interest for transplant care while filling in for the clinic pharmacists in Birmingham after my residency. Needless to say,  I applied, did an informal interview, and accepted the job! I know I have a TON of learning to do but I am excited for the opportunity! 

I will probably continue training in the main pharmacy for 4-6 months before getting on the floor as a SOT pharmacist. Hopefully that will give me some time to do my homework on the current practice associated with heart, liver, and kidney transplants and the medications used. The transplant team supervisor seems very knowledgable and will be a good resource I hope. 

In case any of you are not in the pharmacy world and are wondering what a Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant Pharmacist does...

- Round on pre-tranplant and post-transplant patients (liver and kidney kids) with the medical team (physicians, nurses, nutritionist, etc)

- Write TPNs (total parental nutrition) for inpatient transplant patients

- Discharge teaching to patients and families on their medications after transplant while they are still in the hospital (heart, liver, and kidney kids)

- Attend outpatient kidney and liver transplant clinic (assist the physicians, review medications with the patients/parents, etc)

- Monitor drug levels of patients and adjust dosing of medications as needed (inpatient and clinic kids)

It is not that I did not enjoy the job I had. I will still have a distribution component to the SOT job. All the pharmacist as I said still rotate through the main pharmacy some days to staff. But I enjoy patient contact and I hope I will have more job satisfaction since I really enjoy interacting with the families.  I mean how exciting is it that I will get to help take care of these kiddos that get called to come in for surgery because they are getting a new heart, kidney or liver! Plus if I have to work and I am not going to get to be home with my baby girl then I might as well enjoy what I do and hopefully make new friends at work!
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.- Colossians 3: 23-24

Fun Friday Facts about Seattle:


Mom and Dad have been visiting (pictures to come later) and so I asked them to come up with the "facts" for this week....disclaimer is these are the opinions of Pam and Frankie Dudas and not based on any randomized, blinded studies....


1.  Seattle is Sunny not Rainy (they have not had a rain drop hit their head the entire week....cloudy a few days but most days have been blue skies!)
2. Everyone has a dog
3. Cyclists are dangerous
4. Coffee shops appear every 5 feet
5. People have to exercise because they eat a lot of pastries, chocolate, and sweets
6. There are no cops in Seattle
7. First time in 30 years since Pam has seen someone roll a fatty
8. Any attire is appropriate
9. Where are the American restaurants?
10. Beautiful views from downtown skyline to harbor bays to snow capped mountain
*Bonus: Frankie can't find a starting five.

Picture taken from Kerry Park in Queen Anne Neighborhood