THE PCCA BLOG

Clinical Services Spotlight - Deborah Clark

Wed, 19 Aug 2020 12:47:35 GMT

By Seth Humble, PCCA Digital Content Specialist

Chances are that if you go looking for Deborah Clark on a weekend, you will find her striding among the natural parks and trails that curve and fork across the American landscape like a circulatory system. Deborah is a PCCA Clinical Compounding Pharmacist with a BS in pharmacy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A proud Tar Heel and daughter of the region, she laughs and proclaims proudly that her neighborhood sat between two tobacco fields, what used to be the staple crop of North Carolina.

“I grew up all over the Carolinas,” she says. “My dad and mom are both from the mountains of North Carolina, and the majority of my family still lives there, but at the age of two, we moved to Greenville, South Carolina. Then we headed to a little town called Mint Hill, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte. Then, when I was in the seventh grade, we moved to another small town — Knightdale. And that town was absolutely as small as it sounds.”

I’m a sucker for regional accents, and Deborah’s is a delight. Her laugh is a joyful flourish.

“Why so many moves?” I ask.

“We moved around a lot because of my dad’s job. He was a manager of a trucking terminal. He started out as a truck driver. He and my grandfather used to run coal out of Kentucky and West Virginia. My mother was a registered nurse who worked in the OR, but eventually became a staff nurse for an infectious-disease doctor. And she always told me, ‘Do not become a nurse.’”

Deborah laughs, remembering.

“My mom loved to take care of people. And that’s something she instilled in me. My parents taught me and my brother to be considerate and take care of people. They were very involved with their church community, always visiting shut-ins to make sure those people weren’t alone. They were the embodiment of Southern Hospitality.”

“What does 11 years at PCCA mean to you?” I ask.

“I can’t believe it has been that long. It seems like I started just yesterday. Time flies when you are doing something you love. I feel like I’ve been doing something good with my life, that I can help people and help the ‘fur-sons,’ as Chris Simmons, PCCA’ Vice President of Creative Developments and pharmacist , refers to the animals we help through vet compounding,” she pauses. “And let me just say that everything I’ve learned about vet, I’ve learned from Chris. I would not be the veterinary compounder I am today without the many things I have learned and continue to learn from him. I work with HRT, pain, derm compounding, lots of them, but working with vet compounding is my passion.

“I believe that PCCA, as a company, is my work family. I can name so many people in the company that I know by name and really treasure what we are able to do to help patients. We do a lot of good. We stand up for the patient,” she says, impassioned in what is clearly her true belief that the patient is at the end of a long chain that PCCA participates in to do meaningful medical work in the world.

“As an example,” she continues. “There are so many autistic children, with special needs, and a compounding pharmacist can truly affect the quality of life for those kids. That’s an incredible gift, to be a part of the patient-pharmacist-physician triad. We can make a huge difference. And I have a child, so I deeply relate to that profound idea.”

I always like learning about challenges that our Clinical Services team members have faced. It provides an insight into their dedication and vast experience in problem-solving health challenges one patient at a time.

“One of the most challenging situations I ever had —” she says without missing a beat when I ask her, “— we had a situation with a beluga whale who was kept at an aquarium after being rescued, and we had to figure out how to deliver an antibiotic to treat an infection. We decided on making a suspension that could be put inside a fish and then fed to the whale. We did not have a culture and sensitivity, so we had to research what would be the best choice for this particular organism. So we worked with the whale’s keepers to develop a whole process of timing and flavoring, just build the entire process of delivery from the ground up with them.”

Again, she pauses and laughs. “That was a fun one. We had to think outside the box, like with all animals — always a unique challenge. And that’s how I’d sum up my time at PCCA in a word: fun.”

This is Deborah Clark.

A PCCA Clinical Compounding Pharmacist who delights herself in the vast, open landscape of the American wilderness. Joyful and grateful for her time at PCCA, she makes clear that this is some of the most fun and meaningful work she’s ever done during her time in compounding. The Clinical Services team is equally grateful that she’s one of their own.

Clinical Services Spotlight - Jane Jones

Thu, 18 Jun 2020 13:01:11 GMT

by Seth Humble, Digital Content Specialist

A pharmacist's life involves precision. It requires meticulous preparation and accuracy. A steady hand, a measured approach and attention to detail — these are essential traits. For Jane Jones of PCCA’s Clinical Services team, these traits are what has allowed her to not only be a successful pharmacist, but also a tremendous cook.

“I love to cook in the Southern style,” she says, after I ask her to tell me something about herself that folks may not know. “My husband of 25 years is a pediatric neuroradiologist, but also a Georgia Southern boy, so I love cooking fried chicken in Crisco. Food ... well, cooking is an important part of community. Of family. I love to cook for my husband and our three children. I’m a good cook, and I think that’s because I’m precise.”

“What is the meal you like to make when the whole family is at home?” I ask. “What is the go-to Jane special?”

Her voice rings with excitement when she replies. “Oh, it has to be steak, potatoes and apple cobbler.”

As our conversation deepens, as we talk about what pharmacy compounding means to her, it becomes clear that cooking isn’t just about the recipes, preparation or execution. To Jane, cooking is an act of love for her family. And family means a great deal to Jane, it is a feeling directly tied to the events early in her life.

Jane’s story is one that is common in the American cultural landscape, and yet no less remarkable. Her life began in one country and ended up here because her parents hoped to provide a life of greater opportunity. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Jane’s parents took the long way to getting to the United States of America: Due to a three-year waiting period required for her father to obtain a work visa, they spent 10 years in Paraguay first. Jane is the daughter of an engineer, whom she describes as dedicated and hard-working, willing to provide her a life that allowed her to start her career in pharmacy. That’s where our conversation turns next.

“I was a retail and hospital pharmacist for 10 years,” Jane says of her career before she joined the PCCA team. “I worked at a drug store for my first job. That quickly became boring because it felt like all I was doing was pill-counting. I moved on from there to a children’s hospital because I thought I would get a better chance at patient interaction. That’s what I was interested in. But it was more of the same — count out prescriptions, rarely get to talk with the people the medications were for.”

“Was making medications the most virtuous aspect of that time?” I ask her.

“Every day, pharmacies are making medication,” she says. “There was a time, some years ago while speaking with a Canadian member, I was able to assist with a diaper rash formula for a very severe case, where all other conventional therapies failed. That was meaningful. It helps me remember how important formula innovation is. I also help lots of members with veterinary compounding questions. Vet compounding is a much larger patient group than most people realize.”

“You’ve worked at PCCA for 15 years. What does that 15 years mean to you?”

“I love my job. I am happy,” Jane says. “Lots of people say that, but I truly am. I love talking to our members every day, some of whom I talk to daily! I get excited to log on and really invest myself into the lives of patients and pharmacists.”

“Fifteen years must have come with some challenges, I would imagine,” I say.

Jane chuckles at that. I can hear in her voice the deep, happy sigh of someone who knows their job is difficult, but loves it too much to ever give it up.

“There are always challenges to everything,” she says. “There are little things, like catching the phone on the weekends. We want to be there for our member pharmacies, and sometimes that means weekend work, sometimes even after 7 p.m. But it’s important to be available. Many of us have deep relationships with their technicians, pharmacists and the owners because those pharmacies are helping people get better. Every day, they are helping people get well. Being a part of that makes a little work on the weekend worth it. Without question.”

Jane’s bright, jovial tone is infectious. I find myself smiling so much that the edges of my mouth are starting to ache. It is a good feeling. “Overcoming so many challenges, having such a rich experience in life and family — what would you say has been the most important notion that has kept you working in pharmacy?”

“Providing the right medication,” she says. “The right ingredients, precise ingredients. The right dosage. Those things help a patient. The patient is at the end of a long chain, and even though we may not get to interact with them, our members do. So it is so important to remember that there is always, always, always a patient at the end of each phone call. And the patient matters.”

This is Jane Jones.

She’s a loving wife to a Georgia boy and mother to their three children, who loves to cook food in the American fashion that she learned from her mother-in-law. A daughter to brave immigrant parents who exemplify much of what is best about the country we live in. And she is a part of PCCA’s Clinical Services team, where she represents 25 of the over 500 years of collective pharmacy experience her team brings to bear on any and every challenge. PCCA is proud to call her one of our own.

Clinical Services Spotlight - Sara Hover

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 14:18:34 GMT

By Seth Humble, Digital Content Specialist

Sara Hover and I met each other for the first time via video conferencing. Sara is diligently working from home when we connect online. During our conversation, I can hear the front door open and close; people come and go. Even though Sara usually works from home, it puts into mind what a strange time we are living in with the novel coronavirus now a part of our world. For many people, their living room has become their front office. Despite the weirdness of our present day, I still enjoy learning about a PCCA clinical compounding pharmacist’s past.

“Evadale High School,” is the answer Sara gives me when I ask her where she went to school. She spells it out right after she says the name, a common trait among the folks who went to small, rural community schools.

“Just how small is Evadale?” I ask.

Sara laughs and shrugs her eyebrows when she says, “We had a graduating class of … 34 people.”

Evadale is a small, Texas town — a paper-mill town – and while Sara is fond of her time there, she was excited when she received a scholarship that allowed her to attend the University of Texas. During her time in Austin, that little slice of California in the Lone Star State, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree. While there, she found herself enjoying the enlightening experience unique to small-town pilgrims making their way to the big city.

The summer before her senior year, Sara’s life purpose came clearly into view when she took a job at Abrams Royal Compounding Pharmacy in Dallas, Texas.

“This is it. This is what I want to do. This is my purpose,” she says enthusiastically about her first days in the pharmacy. “That was a huge moment for me during my college independence. I knew, even before I got into pharmacy school, I wanted to work in pharmacy compounding. There was a clarity to it.”

Sara’s passion for pharmacy compounding is clear when she starts talking about her first interaction with PCCA when she was a student: “We went and had lunch with Dave Sparks, and for us, that was a big deal.”

“You opened and ran your own pharmacy for many years,” I said. “How did that shape that time in your life?”

Owning a pharmacy was a dream of mine. Having worked in my dad’s electrical contracting business, entrepreneur blood runs through my veins! Looking back, it was so perfect to be able to balance family and work. I brought my kids to work. Even though there were days I didn’t want to wear all the hats all at the same time, I wouldn’t trade it for a minute. I was truly blessed that I didn’t have to miss any milestones with my kids and still fulfill by dream and what I had worked so hard for. I realize that many women have to choose, and it’s a really tough one.
Years later, when she had a chance to join the company as a team member, it was an easy decision. “When the opportunity arose for me to work for PCCA, it felt like coming home,” she says.

“What does it mean to you to work with PCCA’s members?” I ask.

“It’s very meaningful for me,” Sara replies. “I feel like I am a part of this lifeline for pharmacies. And that it’s my responsibility, well, our responsibility, to give members more than they ask for — to go the extra mile for them. One of those reasons being because we cherish the pharmacies we talk to each and every day, but also because at the end of that discussion, there is a patient who needs help. For example, when I help a pharmacy work out a woman’s hormone imbalances, I’m not just helping that woman regulate her hormones and the symptoms that come with, say, menopause. I’m helping a mom or a sister, and by helping her, I’m helping a person’s whole family. Because a happier person, a healthier person, makes a happier and healthier home. That’s very meaningful for me, and for our team.”
Sara’s voice grows more and more excited the more she talks about helping patients and the pharmacies that serve them.

“I typically work with women’s hormone replacement therapy (HRT),” she continues. “I have many members who share their patients’ cases with me, and so we go along together on that journey. We discuss the patient’s symptoms, and we work together to build a plan that helps each particular patient the way they need. That’s what personalized medicine means: one person, one solution. The feedback from those patient stories is always so encouraging. To know that women who are going through difficult hormone issues come back and thank us for that help; that’s very special. Very meaningful for me, that success. Every member, every pharmacist who gives us those success stories, reminds us every day that this is why we do what we do.”

Sara gives me a specific example when she tells me about a female patient who began to experience a daisy chain of symptoms the patient couldn’t understand, from exhaustion to anxiety, depression to insomnia. Sara being a link in the chain of improving that patient’s life is an experience she describes as singularly “amazing.”

This is Sara Hover.

She is a woman who, because of her parents’ diligent hands, has a steadfast work ethic and can rewire her own electrical outlets. She believes her purpose in life will always involve helping people through pharmacy compounding. And for almost seven years, she has been a part of PCCA’s Clinical Services team — a journey, she says, that makes her feel blessed.

Clinical Services Spotlight - Bruce Biundo

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 18:36:44 GMT

By Seth Humble, Digital Content Specialist

Bruce Biundo, one of PCCA’s clinical compounding pharmacists, is a man given over to a tranquil demeanor. He carries about him a venerable gentility. His eloquence is moderated by a vocabulary that runs deep and straight. Bruce, in other words, is a man who says what he means and looks you in the eye authoritatively while saying it, but without any kind of hubris. The word to describe him is — genuine.

“I was born in Independence, Louisiana. It’s a small town with a population of about 1,800 people, close to New Orleans. When I grew up, there was no interstate, so there was just highway running through town.”

“What was it like for you there?” I ask.

“It was a time when small towns did pretty well. It was largely a strawberry-farming community, so people did all of their shopping locally. My father was a pharmacist, and my mother worked in the pharmacy, too. They owned the pharmacy after working seven days a week for years. It was an enormous part of our lives. We lived above the pharmacy, which people might find hard to believe now. One of my first jobs, after my dad installed a soda fountain, was as a Soda Jerk. I have many fond memories of it.”

There is a passing whimsy that tugs at the line of Bruce’s mouth, a smile threaded to a memory.

“How have those memories shaped you in adulthood?” I ask.

Bruce lets out a low, slow breath as he considers. “It’s about answering one question at a time to ensure that a person gets the exact answer they need — one pharmacy at a time.”

Bruce mentions that whenever he goes on vacation or a road trip, he likes to stop inside small community pharmacies along his path, just to check in and see how they are doing. He expresses a deep and abiding commitment to maintaining those relationships. He would never say it himself, but this commitment is likely one of the many reasons Bruce was named the Texas Pharmacy Association’s Pharmacist of the Year in 2013, among his many other accolades. This is an award that recognizes a pharmacist who possesses a record of unquestionable integrity, outstanding service to the local or state association, and a personal record of exemplary service to the pharmacy community. And if there is one particular branch of pharmacy compounding that Bruce is renowned for assisting with, it is hormone replacement therapy (HRT). After having read his recent article on how to establish yourself as a men's health consultant onThe PCCA Blog, I wanted to ask Bruce about his thoughts on the prevalence of HRT.

“HRT has exploded in the last 20 years. How did that happen?” I ask.

“I’m not sure there is any one thing. It was beginning to happen a few years before that. It was beginning to become interesting because we knew, as pharmacists, that it would provide a unique opportunity to begin educating people about it. So we started hormone education events. I don’t remember exactly what we said at those early events, but I do remember everyone who was there.”

That statement about remembering the specific people gets a smile out of me, but Bruce is in the zone; he’s educating me now, seemingly unaware of the wonderful statement he just made.

I remember everyone who was there.

Bruce continues, naming the important folks who worked with him. “Then, not too long after, I realized that our information was heavily focused on women’s HRT, so I began looking for clinical data on what HRT could do for men. I read every book I could find, investigated the research. I first presented on men’s HRT at International Seminar in April of 1999 — 21 years ago. Over the years, more clinical data continued to come out. And now, with bioidentical hormones …”

What happens next is something that is wonderful and only possible when in the hands of a true expert. Bruce Biundo summarizes the history of HRT and the nuances between traditional hormones and bioidentical hormones. He describes how those two things shaped the development of HRT as both a medical necessity and as a commercial opportunity that contributed to the prevalent anti-aging culture in America. He provides a detailed explanation as to why the delivery vehicle for testosterone matters and why patients see different results when using those varying bases. He calls these things the basics, the simple foundational pieces to understanding modern HRT.

He summarizes all this in three minutes.

Concise. Never belittling, always intentional. He does this thing, this practiced, almost magical thing, and when he stops talking, I catch myself hoping he will go on. Bruce has done what only the consummate teacher can do: remind you how much, as humans, we love to learn.

“So what would you say has made the most meaningful impact on you during your time at PCCA?” I ask.

For the first time since we started speaking, Bruce’s eyes fall away from mine after a question. His index finger curls around the cleft of his chin, and he thinks for what seems a long measure of time.

“There is something about being at PCCA that is analogous to being a small community pharmacist,” he eventually replies. “You see the same people over a long period of time — develop relationships, trust. Over 21 years ago, I gave my first presentation on HRT, and I still talk with people who were there.”

He shifts in his chair, straightening up.

“When people ask me what I do at PCCA, I tell them, ‘I talk to my friends on the phone, and I try to help them.’ That’s what it means to me — to be able to help your friends.”

This is Bruce Biundo — a man who grew up among the strawberry fields of Independence, Louisiana, as the son of a pharmacist who knew from a time when he was very young that he wanted to help people through pharmacy care. He is a kind man, though fiercely knowledgeable. And he embodies PCCA’s spirit that seeks to empower compounding pharmacies and ensure they get the very best information for the challenges they face.

Clinical Services Spotlight - Andy Glasnapp

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:38:00 GMT

by Seth Humble

The time reads 9:05 a.m. on Andy Glasnapp’s Seiko watch. We shook hands thirty seconds ago and already he’s telling me about the fishing in Karluk, Alaska. An enameled pin that reads “PCCA – 25 Years” dangles from his lanyard, catching the halogen light over a tidy desk. Andy is a Clinical Compounding Pharmacist at PCCA, and if you’ve ever wanted anyone to walk you through the topographical vascularity of the Alaskan wilderness via Google Maps, then look no further.

Andy brings up the map of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and hovers his cursor over the blue expanse of Skilak Lake. “What you’ve got here,” he says, with the excited lilt of the piqued hobbyist, “is a little river that snakes up this way, and about 10 miles upriver, there is a lake. And to get all five species of salmon, you’ve got to have a lake. If you want Reds, the Sockeyes, which is what we fished while we were there, that and Silvers — you need a lake.”

Andy tells me about Seward, Alaska, next, a “huge little town” that serves as a port of access for cruise ships. “They’ll take you right up to the glaciers and that,” he says, his eyebrows lifting over the rim of his glasses. “That is really cool.” He talks about grizzlies, seals, fog-bathed Denali, and then, without missing a beat, he mentions all the compounding pharmacies that serve the people of Alaska. He recalls each of them by name, pointing out where they are located on the map and the regions they serve. They are, in his mind, a part of Alaska as much as the mountains, roving hills and little creeks.

I’ve known Andy Glasnapp for sixteen minutes at this point, and I can already say with absolute certainty that he cherishes nature, people and information. He especially loves information. That’s clear from the formula reminders he writes in his well-worn copy of the PCCA product catalog, or in the way he explains the migration patterns of Alaskan trout and the shrimp-gorged seagulls in the Gulf of Mexico. More than the information itself, he loves to share it. Andy delights in knowledge’s ability to empower. He glows as he recalls these things, giving credence to the age old truth — knowledge is power.

Andy rolls through inquiry after inquiry from compounding pharmacists around North America. Call to call, Andy’s questions are patient but also rapid fire, flowing easily from a well-practiced mind. His responses come not as singular declarations, but in the form of options that the pharmacy can choose from to best assist their patients’ needs. Andy Glasnapp is interested in answers, but it’s the questions that fuel his mind.

Our first call of the day is a formulation issue; an allergy patch isn’t quite working for a patient. Andy, after reading over the pharmacist’s question in his queue, leans back in his office chair like a captain who has just charted a course for a journey he’s made a thousand times. Confident, he picks up the phone.

Four minutes later, the call is over. The pharmacist has heard her options and ends their brief time together with repeated thank-you’s.

The next call is tougher. A 15-year-old girl is struggling with daily seizures. The seizures are now so regular that the patient requires the insertion of a gastrostomy tube. The pharmacist takes Andy’s council, wanting to know his thoughts about using oil- or water-based solutions when dealing with the tube. Andy plows through online academic articles and personal notes alike, and he ultimately provides a selection of potential solutions. When the call is over, Andy says, “It’s difficult sometimes — especially with kids. You want to cure people, but sometimes pharmacy is about doing the very best that you can. Sometimes that’s all we can do.”

A little later, Andy’s call lands in Kentucky, where a pharmacist needs to know if two particular medications, when combined together, can cause blood thinning in a canine. The dog has a surgery planned, and compromised blood clotting can be a serious issue. Andy searches his repository of resources, digging around the nooks and crannies until he finds his “eureka” moment, which he shares with the pharmacist. The challenge met and conquered, Andy’s countenance shines with satisfaction.

From over the phone —New Jersey to Connecticut to a half-dozen other places — Andy whirs through compounding challenges, always following the same pattern:

Observe.

Question.

Hypothesize.

Analyze.

Conclude.

"The scientific method, that’s my thing. And where people get tripped up is when they don’t ask questions,” Andy says. The very notion of failing to ask questions sends a wave of visible nausea over his face. “That’s what folks fail to do when they get hit with a challenge — they focus on the problem and the anxiety, and they stop asking questions.”

I give Andy a question of my own: “Where was home growing up?”

“Iowa.” He crosses his arms over his chest, reclining back in his chair. The word conjures the ghosts of a hundred memories that pass over him in less than a heartbeat. “Lytton, Iowa.”

I know that look. It’s the familiar, slanted gesture the small town escapee gives when someone asks, “Where are you from?”

“It’s a small farm town in the middle of Nowhere, Iowa,” he says. “Corn, soybeans, cattle. Family farm, 1,200 acres, 1,200 head of cattle. I started running a four-wheel-drive tractor when I was 7 years old.” He talks warmly about the family farm and lovingly of his older brother and nephew who now thresh the ground his father once toiled over. A wistful smile creeps up as he gives me the rundown of a childhood spent among field, fowl and the soft, strong bonds of family. “That’s part of why I got interested in compounding,” Andy says. “I had a sister who was a pharmacist, and that was interesting. And it was better than working in the heat outside or the cold of winter, and it sure as heck smelled better. I was working in a pharmacy for about a year before I found out about compounding. And that really connected with me.”

Andy draws up in his chair and leans in. “Where I’m from, you don’t run to the store and just grab what you need. You take what you have and you make it work. You find a solution for people. It’s very attractive to me as a person to fix things, solve problems. I’m interested in what works — which is a great way to help people. That’s what I’m in this for, to genuinely help people.

“My dad told me one day, ‘You can be a pharmacist, but I need you to be a special pharmacist.’ And that was the challenge he gave me: Be something different,” Andy says. “My dad, in his mind, wasn’t just a farmer. What he did, at our family farm, fed the world. I didn’t understand what he was trying to teach me with his words until years later. I could be a pharmacist, but being a pharmacist had to mean more to me than just the job itself.”

With every story, Andy finds a way to inject truisms, snippets of information and asides detailed with the tidbits of farm life few folks outside the American Midwest still carry. Andy bails up his personal ethos in the belief that doing things the right way and helping people is his main reason for being in the field of pharmacy.

“Lots of people want to come in, make a buck, no matter the cost. No,” he says, lightly hammering his fist onto the table. “You do it the right way, for the right reason. Ask the questions, observe. Help people. If you’re not doing that, then I just don’t know what to tell you.”

This is Andy Glasnapp.

He’s a Clinical Compounding Pharmacist who has served at PCCA for 25 years and more. He loves to fish in the fall when the redfish come swirling to the warm surface in the Gulf of Mexico. He’s a man who revels in the bittersweet nostalgia of a life spent growing things in an Iowa town most of you have never heard of. And he cannot help but relentlessly chase after questions — not just for the reward of an answer, but for the love of the question itself.