Donna Rahmatian

Donna Rahmatian graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2009, and a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 2014. She then pursued a hospital pharmacy residency with LMPS from 2014-2015. She has worked as a clinical pharmacist for almost 5 years, in the areas of vascular surgery, internal medicine and family practice at Vancouver General Hospital, and in the areas of surgery, GI, cardiology (including the cardiac intensive care unit and the heart function clinic) and internal medicine at St. Paul’s Hospital. She is currently completing her PharmD from the University of Toronto to expand her knowledge and skills in advanced pharmacy practice in order to improve the care she provides to patients.

1. What’s your journey post pharmacy school and how did you get to where you are?

"I currently work as a clinical pharmacist at St. Paul’s Hospital. I mainly cover surgery and GI, but sometimes cover cardiology and internal medicine. I read about hospital pharmacy before I started pharmacy school, so it was something already in the back of my mind. As I learned more about residency, I knew it was what I wanted to do. I worked hard on my application and was successful in getting into the program after pharmacy school, and have been working as a clinical pharmacist since then."

2. What inspired you to pursue your specific area of practice?

"I was rotating through different areas of practice before being placed for a month on the surgery and GI service. I discovered that there is lot to contribute to patient care as a clinical pharmacist on the ward and a lot of opportunity to learn about specialty surgery and GI topics such as perioperative medicine, pain management, infections but also internal medicine. The supportive colleagues I met in the surgical teams, nursing staff and allied health team along with the opportunity to contribute to program-related work such as order sets has made the position a great opportunity to learn and develop my skills."

3. What does an average day in the life of a hospital pharmacist in drug distribution look like?

"It is filled with a lot of multi-tasking to verify orders on the computer and answer phone calls from nurses and physicians. It can be very busy as there can be several hundred orders to verify throughout some periods of the day. The workflow is different than a community pharmacy since the pharmacy technicians are responsible for product preparation, checking, and distribution and it is separated from direct patient care (centralized model)."

4. Could you share with us your involvement with CSHP?

"I have been a CSHP member for several years but was excited to have the opportunity to contribute as the membership chairperson of the BC Branch from 2017 to 2019. This was a great opportunity to work with other dedicated pharmacists on the BC Branch council and committees and find new ways to improve our membership benefits and attract and retain members. CSHP is an important association to advocate for pharmacy in collaborative practice and I strongly encourage others to join, support and contribute to CSHP."

5. As a hospital pharmacist, what do you find to be the most rewarding part of your position, and what do you find to be the most challenging?

"The most rewarding part is that I have the opportunity to use the knowledge and skills that I learned in pharmacy school and in residency to make drug therapy changes that improve patient care, and that the value of what I can contribute is limited by my own skills and abilities. This means that the more I learn and improve my skills and knowledge, the more I can help patients. The most challenging aspect of working as a hospital pharmacist is the large patient loads that most of the positions carry and trying to provide proactive pharmaceutical care to as many patients as possible."

6. What advice would you offer students interested in pursuing hospital pharmacy?

"The first piece of advice I have is to pursue a hospital pharmacy residency. This means researching the available programs early on in pharmacy school and working hard on being a strong candidate. The second piece of advice I have is that all the hard work to get into residency is worth it, because you will learn so much in the year and it will open up many opportunities for clinical practice. The third piece of advice is that there is still much to learn after residency so it is important to stay committed in your pursuit of knowledge and skills to improve patient care."