Purple Pen Podcast

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...

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 ey...

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

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

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.

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.

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 b...

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 independ...

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 freakin...

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 di...

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 t...

  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...

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...

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 Pr...

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 .

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

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...

  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 guidelin...

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 regulat...

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 tabl...

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.

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 u...

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...

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