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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. 

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 curriculum includes modules to develop the core knowledge required to clinically review and assess chemotherapy orders and to safely handle and dispense hazardous drugs, and also modules that focus on evidence-based therapeutic topics for a more advanced level of clinical oncology practice.


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.

  10. Describe complications associated with vascular access devices and their management, including thrombosis and venous sclerosis.

  11. Describe the pathophysiology of common chemotherapy-associated toxicities and develop a care plan to prevent, minimize and manage these symptoms.

  12. Describe the basic clinical evidence to support the general management of the following malignancies: breast, colorectal, lung and prostate.

 

‎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.

Cancer Drug Therapy 

Cancer Drug 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

Management of Adverse Effects of Cancer Drug Therapy

 

 

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 PharmD MBA

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist & 

Pharmacy Education Coordinator

BC Cancer - Vancouver

 

Mandeep K. Bains, BScPharm

Pharmacy Educator, Community Oncology Network

BC Cancer - Vancouver

                           

Nadine Badry, BScPharm  

Editor, Cancer Drug Manual

BC Cancer - Provincial

 

Alysha Bharmal, BScPharm       

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Surrey

 

Jackie Buston, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Victoria

 

Linda Calwill, BScPharm 

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Abbotsford

 

Mário de Lemos, PharmD MSc(Oncol) 

Provincial Drug Information Coordinator

BC Cancer - Provincial 

 

Lynne Ferrier, BScPharm MBA

Pharmacy Educator, Community Oncology Network

BC Cancer - Surrey

 

Rachel Kim, PharmD

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Vancouver


Victoria Kletas, BScPharm MScPharm 

Oncology Drug Information Specialist

BC Cancer - Provincial 


Juliana Man, BScPharm
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer - Vancouver

Tonya Ng, BScPharm MA

Provincial Medication Safety Coordinator

BC Cancer - Provincial


Sanna Pellatt, BScPharm

Pharmacy Educator, Community Oncology Network

BC Cancer - Victoria


Khushminder Rai, BScPharm
Pharmacy Educator, Community Oncology Network
BC Cancer - Surrey & Abbotsford


Sonia Szombathy, BSP                     

Pharmacy Educator, Community Oncology Network

BC Cancer - Kelowna


Amber Tew, BSP
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer - Kelowna


Sally Waignein, BSc BScPharm ACPR PharmD

Provincial Pharmacy Education Coordinator

BC Cancer - Provincial


 

 

Educational Review

Susan Aro, BScPharm MEd        

Department Head, Allied Health Programs

Vancouver Community College

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Vancouver

 

‎Expert Review

Linda Calwill, BScPharm 

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Abbotsford


Shawn Cassidy, BScPharm MSc
Clinical Pharmacist
BC Cancer - Vancouver

Nancy Coady, BScPharm 

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Victoria


Maryam Daftarian, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Vancouver

 

Megan Darbyshire, BScPharm 

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Prince George

 

Mário de Lemos, PharmD MSc(Oncol) 
Provincial Drug Information Coordinator
BC Cancer - Provincial 


Jeevan Dosanjh, RN BSN

Education Resource Nurse, Professional Practice Nursing

BC Cancer - Vancouver

 

Shaun Dosanjh, BScPharm                   

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Surrey

 

Joan Fabbro, BScPharm

Oncology Certification Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Provincial 

 

Daygen Finch, MD FRCP(C)         

Medical Oncologist

BC Cancer - Kelowna

 

Randy Goncalves, BScPharm

Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader

BC Cancer - Kelowna

 

Allan Hovan, DDS

Oral Oncology/Dentistry Professional Practice Leader
BC Cancer - Provincial


Dennis Jang, BScPharm

Pharmacy Drug Distribution Coordinator

BC Cancer - Vancouver

 

Victoria Kletas, BScPharm MScPharm 

Oncology Drug Information Specialist

BC Cancer - Provincial

 

Kimberly Kuik, BScPharm 

Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader

BC Cancer - Victoria

 

Lyly H. Lê, MD CM FRCP(C)          

Medical Oncologist

BC Cancer - Surrey

 

Tanya Leduc, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Victoria

 

Agnes Y. Y. Lee, MD MSc FRCPC

Medical Director, Thrombosis Program

Vancouver Coastal Health

 

Christopher W. Lee, MD FRCP(C)        

Medical Oncologist

BC Cancer - Surrey

 

Nathalie Levasseur, MD FRCPC

Medical Oncologist

BC Cancer - Vancouver


Juliana Man, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Vancouver


Crystal Maric, BScPharm MBA

Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader

BC Cancer - Vancouver

 

Lucia Nappi, MD PhD

Medical Oncologist 

BC Cancer - Vancouver

Senior Research Scientist

Vancouver Prostate Centre


Judith Nyrose, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer- Kelowna

 

Enny Oetomo, BScPharm PharmD

Clinical Pharmacist  

BC Cancer - Victoria

 

Khushminder Rai, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Abbotsford

 

Rose-Marie Reddy, BScPharm  

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Abbotsford

 

Janice Reynolds, BScPharm     

Clinical Pharmacist 

BC Cancer - Kelowna

 

Kieran Shoker, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Prince George


Jillian Stevens, BScPharm                     

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Surrey

 

Amber Tew, BSP

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Kelowna


Pamela Tucker, BScPharm                    

Clinical Pharmacist            

BC Cancer - Abbotsford


Amarjit Uppal, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Abbotsford

 

Lisa Wanbon, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Victoria

Rob Watt, BScPharm

Clinical Pharmacist

BC Cancer - Prince George


 

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