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Pharmacy Education Program

The BC Cancer Oncology Pharmacy Education Program is a self-directed, online continuing professional education program.
Program contents

All content for this non-accredited program is written by BC Cancer pharmacists, and thus, incorporates the unique perspective of oncology pharmacy practice in British Columbia. 

The Pharmacy Education Program is freely available to anyone with internet access, with the exception of Oncology Basics, which requires a Canadian Association of Pharmacy in Oncology (CAPhO) membership. 

Level 1 modules are available under the Level 1 tab below. Please see the Requirements tab for instructions about how to access them. 

 

Recognizing that oncology pharmacy is a subspecialty, the Pharmacy Education Program uses a structured educational framework to support ongoing knowledge development in a variety of oncology topics. 


The program consists of two levels:

  • level 1 - core clinical practice

  • level 2 - advanced clinical practice

Level 1 - Core clinical practice

Level 1 curriculum develops the core knowledge required to clinically review and assess chemotherapy orders and to safely handle and dispense hazardous drugs. 


Learning objectives

  1. Utilize a systematic approach to critically review chemotherapy orders.

  2. Access existing resources related to oncology health professionals and patients.

  3. Recognize the potential occupational risks associated with hazardous drugs.

  4. Apply safe handling practice standards when actively handling and while supervising others during the receipt, storage, preparation and disposal of hazardous drugs.

  5. Apply medication safety principles to reduce the number of medication errors associated with the prescribing, preparation, and administration of hazardous drugs.

  6. Describe the epidemiology, etiology, and classifications of cancer.

  7. Describe the various modalities of treatment in cancer management.

  8. Describe the pharmacology, common toxicities, monitoring parameters, and management strategies for common cancer therapies.

  9. Describe the risk factors, screening process, diagnostic process, monitoring parameters, treatment modalities and management of malignancies in the following tumour sites: breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate.

Level 2: Advanced clinical practice

This level focuses on evidence-based therapeutic topics for a more advanced level of clinical oncology practice.


Learning objectives

  1. Describe complications associated with vascular access devices and their management, including thrombosis and venous sclerosis.
  2. Describe the various pathologic classifications of pre-malignant and malignant tumours.
  3. Describe the etiology of common secondary malignancies.
  4. Describe the pathophysiology of common chemotherapy-associated toxicities and develop a care plan to prevent, minimize and manage these symptoms.
  5. Describe the risk factors, screening process, diagnostic process, monitoring parameters, treatment modalities and management of malignancies in the following tumour sites: genitourinary (excluding prostate), gynecological, head and neck, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, neuro-oncology, skin, primary unknown and upper gastrointestinal.
  6. Describe the basic clinical evidence to support the general management of the following malignancies: breast, colorectal, lung and prostate.
  7. Describe the pathophysiology of common symptoms in cancer patients and develop a care plan to prevent, minimize, and manage these symptoms.
  8. Describe the risk factors, pathophysiology, and management of the following oncologic emergencies: spinal cord compression, superior vena cava syndrome, cancer-associated hypercalcemia, and acute tumour lysis syndrome.
  9. Define common terminologies used in biostatistics.
  10. Apply a systematic approach to basic critical literature appraisal and design.

 

‎This is a non-accredited program. Supporting documentation is not required by the BC College of Pharmacists to be included in the CE-Plus option for the Professional Development and Assessment Program (PDAP). 

Technical requirements

Registration with password-protected websites as outlined in the following section.


Password-protected websites 

Registration for some healthcare websites is required to access some of the reading materials for this program. These password-protected websites were included because it was felt that including these websites was preferable to the alternatives, which are:
  • requiring learners to obtain hard copies of textbooks or journal articles 
  • charging learners a fee to access modules to offset paying for the rights to include copyright-protected articles in the course

 

Core Clinical Practice

This level provides the basic principles of cancer care with core topics in oncology practice.

Chemotherapy Process

Chemotherapy Safe Handling 

Oncology Basics

  • CAPhO Oncology Basics - This module, developed by the Canadian Association of Pharmacy in Oncology (CAPhO), is recommended as part of the Core Clinical Practice (Level 1) curriculum. Access to this program requires the purchase of a CAPhO membership. 
  • Cancer Drug Pharmacology Table - This table provides a listing of cancer drugs used in BC that is consistent with the pharmacology categories covered in Oncology Basics. It is recommended that pharmacy staff members complete Oncology Basics first, and then use this table as a quick reference.
Cancer Management

Monitoring and Diagnostics

Pharmacology

Symptom and Side Effect Management

 

 

All rights to materials developed for the BC Cancer Oncology Pharmacy Education Program are reserved in favour of BC Cancer Branch, a branch society of the Provincial Health Services Authority.  No part of this materials developed for this Program may be used for commercial purposes or gain, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means whether, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Provincial Health Services Authority. The materials developed for this Program were prepared by the BC Cancer Branch Pharmacy Department for education purposes only and their use is subject to the BC Cancer’s Terms of Use.   Clinical decision making in a specific context requires the use of independent judgment of a health professional in the context of individual clinical circumstances and remains the responsibility of attending health professionals. Any health professional using the content of these materials to provide treatment for patients will be solely responsible for verifying the information described in the materials as it applies to a specific clinical setting according to acceptable standards of care. Nothing contained in these materials should in any way be construed as being either official or unofficial policy of the BC Cancer Branch or Provincial Health Services Authority.

 


Contributors

 

 

Shirin Abadi, BScPharm, Pharm D, MBA

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist &

Pharmacy Education Coordinator

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

Mandeep K. Bains, BScPharm

Pharmacy Educator

Community Oncology Network

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

                           

Nadine Badry, BScPharm  

Editor, BC Cancer Cancer Drug Manual

BC Cancer

Victoria, British Columbia

 

Alysha Bharmal, BScPharm       

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Surrey, British Columbia

 

Jackie Buston, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Victoria, British Columbia

 

Linda Calwill, BScPharm 

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Abbotsford, British Columbia

 

Mário de Lemos, PharmD, MSc (Oncol) 

Provincial Drug Information Coordinator

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

Lynne Ferrier, BScPharm, MBA

Pharmacy Educator 

Community Oncology Network

BC Cancer

Surrey, British Columbia

 

Rhonda Kalyn, BSP                     

Pharmacy Educator

Community Oncology Network

BC Cancer

Kelowna, British Columbia

 

Victoria Kletas, BScPharm, MScPharm 

Oncology Drug Information Specialist

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia


Juliana Man, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer
Vancouver, British Columbia

Tonya Ng, BScPharm, MA

Provincial Medication Safety Coordinator

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia


Sanna Pellatt, BScPharm

Pharmacy Educator, Community Oncology Network

BC Cancer

Victoria, British Columbia

 

 

Educational Review

Susan Aro, BScPharm, RPh, MEd        

Department Head, Allied Health Programs

Vancouver Community College

Clinical Pharmacist, BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

‎Expert Review

Linda Calwill, BScPharm 

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Abbotsford, British Columbia


Shawn Cassidy, BScPharm, MSc
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer
Vancouver, British Columbia

Nancy Coady, BScPharm 

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Victoria, British Columbia


Maryam Daftarian, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

Megan Darbyshire, BScPharm 

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Prince George, British Columbia

 

Mário de Lemos, PharmD, MSc (Oncol) 
Provincial Drug Information Coordinator
BC Cancer
Vancouver, British Columbia


Jeevan Dosanjh, RN, BSN

Education Resource Nurse

Professional Practice Nursing

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

Shaun Dosanjh, BScPharm                   

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Surrey, British Columbia

 

Joan Fabbro, BScPharm

Oncology Certification Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Kelowna, British Columbia

 

Daygen Finch, MD, FRCP(C)         

Medical Oncologist

BC Cancer

Kelowna, British Columbia

 

Randy Goncalves, BScPharm

Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader

BC Cancer

Kelowna, British Columbia


Allan Hovan, DMD, MSD, FRCD(C)

Provincial Professional Practice Leader

Program in Oral Oncology/Dentistry

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

Dennis Jang, BScPharm

Drug Distribution Coordinator

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

Victoria Kletas, BScPharm, MScPharm 

Oncology Drug Information Specialist

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

Kimberly Kuik, BScPharm 

Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader

BC Cancer

Victoria, British Columbia

 

Lyly H. Lê, MD CM, FRCP(C)          

Medical Oncologist

BC Cancer

Surrey, British Columbia

 

Tanya Leduc, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Victoria, British Columbia

 

Agnes Y. Y. Lee, MD, MSc, FRCPC

Medical Director, Thrombosis Program

Vancouver Coastal Health

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

Christopher W. Lee, MD, FRCP(C)        

Medical Oncologist

BC Cancer

Surrey, British Columbia

 

Juliana Man, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia


Crystal Maric, BScPharm, MBA

Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader

BC Cancer

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

Judith Nyrose, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Kelowna, British Columbia

 

Enny Oetomo, BScPharm, PharmD

Clinical Pharmacist  

BC Cancer

Victoria, British Columbia

 

Khushminder Rai, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Abbotsford, British Columbia

 

Rose-Marie Reddy, BScPharm  

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Abbotsford, British Columbia

 

Janice Reynolds, BScPharm     

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Kelowna, British Columbia

 

Jillian Stevens, BScPharm                     

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Surrey, British Columbia

 

Amber Tew, BSP

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Kelowna, British Columbia


Pamela Tucker, BScPharm                    

Clinical Pharmacist            

BC Cancer

Abbotsford, British Columbia


Amarjit Uppal, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Abbotsford, British Columbia

 

Lisa Wanbon, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Victoria, British Columbia


Rob Watt, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer

Prince George, British Columbia


 

Contributors

 
Shirin Abadi, BScPharm, Pharm D
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist &
Pharmacy Education Coordinator
BC Cancer Agency
Vancouver, British Columbia

Mandeep K. Bains, BScPharm Pharmacy Educator
Communities Oncology Network
BC Cancer Agency 
Vancouver, British Columbia
                           
Nadine Badry, BScPharm  
Editor, BCCA Cancer Drug Manual
BC Cancer Agency
Victoria, British Columbia

Alysha Bharmal, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency 
Surrey, British Columbia

Jackie Buston, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Victoria, British Columbia

Linda Calwill, BScPharm 
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Abbotsford, British Columbia

Mário de Lemos, PharmD, MSc (Oncol) 
Provincial Drug Information Coordinator
BC Cancer Agency
Vancouver, British Columbia

Lynne Ferrier, BScPharm, MBA
Pharmacy Educator 
Communities Oncology Network
BC Cancer Agency
Surrey, British Columbia

Rhonda Kalyn, BSP
Pharmacy Educator
Communities Oncology Network
BC Cancer Agency 
Kelowna, British Columbia

Tonya Ng, BScPharm, MA
Provincial Medication Safety Coordinator
BC Cancer Agency
Vancouver, British Columbia
 

 

‎Educational Review

Susan Aro, BScPharm, RPh, MEd
Department Head, Allied Health Programs
Vancouver Community College
Clinical Pharmacist, BC Cancer Agency
Vancouver, British Columbia

‎Expert Review

Nancy Coady, BScPharm 
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Victoria, British Columbia

Megan Darbyshire, BScPharm 
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Prince George, British Columbia

Jeevan Dosanjh, RN, BSN
Education Resource Nurse
Professional Practice Nursing
BC Cancer Agency
Vancouver, British Columbia

Shaun Dosanjh, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Surrey, British Columbia

Joan Fabbro, BScPharm
Oncology Certification Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Kelowna, British Columbia

Daygen Finch, MD, FRCP(C)         
Medical Oncologist
BC Cancer Agency
Kelowna, British Columbia

Randy Goncalves, BScPharm
Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader
BC Cancer Agency
Kelowna, British Columbia

Dennis Jang, BScPharm
Drug Distribution Coordinator
BC Cancer Agency
Vancouver, British Columbia

Victoria Kletas, BScPharm, MScPharm 
Oncology Drug Information Specialist
BC Cancer Agency
Vancouver, British Columbia

Kimberly Kuik, BScPharm 
Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader
BC Cancer Agency
Kelowna, British Columbia

Lyly H. Lê, MD CM, FRCP(C)          
Medical Oncologist
BC Cancer Agency 
Surrey, British Columbia

Tanya Leduc, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Victoria, British Columbia

Agnes Y. Y. Lee, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Medical Director, Thrombosis Program
Vancouver Coastal Health
Vancouver, British Columbia

Christopher W. Lee, MD, FRCP(C)
Medical Oncologist
BC Cancer Agency
Surrey, British Columbia

Crystal Maric, BScPharm, MBA
Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader
BC Cancer Agency
Abbotsford, British Columbia

Judith Nyrose, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Kelowna, British Columbia

Enny Oetomo, BScPharm, PharmD
Clinical Pharmacist  
BC Cancer Agency
Victoria, British Columbia

Khushminder Rai, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Abbotsford, British Columbia

Rose-Marie Reddy, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Abbotsford, British Columbia

Janice Reynolds, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Kelowna, British Columbia

Jillian Stevens, BScPharm  
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Surrey, British Columbia

Pamela Tucker, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist            
BC Cancer Agency
Abbotsford, British Columbia

Lisa Wanbon, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer Agency
Victoria, British Columbia
 




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