December Community Medical School

The third in this year’s Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) Community Medical School series featured a presentation over prescription safety aimed at older adults by Trista Askins Bailey, Pharm.D., TTUHSC School of Pharmacy assistant professor. Bailey’s presentation examined the history, risks and safe handling of medications, with an emphasis on procedures that should be observed by senior citizens who regularly take one or more prescriptions.

Bailey, who works in geriatric pharmacy, cautioned seniors to consider the “5 W’s” when taking medication:
• What is the medication?
• Why is it taken?
• What does it do?
• When should it be taken?
• What is the follow-up or monitoring that should go along with it?

Bailey also examined the potential interactions of prescriptions with other prescriptions, over-the-counter medications and supplements, many of which are dangerous. Finally, Bailey answered audience questions regarding dosage, generic drug efficacy and expired medication clean out.

The event opened with a brief presentation by Richard Winn, M.D., Texas Tech Physicians infectious disease specialist. Winn examined this year’s instance of the flu and the limited effectiveness of the offered flu shot.

Related Stories

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing Named Best Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program in Texas

The TTUHSC School of Nursing Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program has been ranked the No. 1 accelerated nursing program in Texas by RegisteredNursing.org.

TTUHSC Names New Regional Dean for the School of Nursing

Louise Rice, DNP, RN, has been named regional dean of the TTUHSC School of Nursing on the Amarillo campus.

A Call for Change: Addressing the Invisible Workload of School-Based SLPs

Tobias Kroll, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, discusses the workloads and expectations of school-based SLPs.

Recent Stories

Research

NIH-Funded Exploratory Study to Seek Possible Targets for Treating Alcohol Use Disorder

In an effort to uncover therapeutic targets of AUD, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at the NIH awarded a two-year, $407,468 grant to Dawei Li, Ph.D., from the TTUHSC School of Medicine and GSBS.

Research

AAAS Recognizes Mitra for Mentorship Work

Amal Mitra, Dr.P.H., professor in TTUHSC's Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health, was recognized by the AAAS for his work with the AAAS HBCU Making and Innovation Initiative.

Research

Summer Program Introduces Medical Students to the Research Laboratory

Each year, approximately 100 first-year TTUHSC School of Medicine students — more than half of the Lubbock class — step out of the classroom and into the laboratory to spend part of their summer making unique discoveries through the Medical Student Summer Research Program (MSSRP).