Clinical pharmacist wins kudos in her field

If you ask Dr. Andrea Wessell about her job, she'll tell you she wears several hats.

There's the one where she is a clinical practitioner at the MUSC Family Medical Center on Calhoun Street. Then there's another where she teaches courses about geriatrics in the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. The other hat is as the sole clinical pharmacist in the Practice Partner Research Network, a practice-based research network of primary care physicians.

All of that hard work has paid off, not only in job satisfaction but in the eyes of her colleagues and mentors, as well. As a result, she will be awarded the 2008 New Clinical Practitioner Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. To be eligible for the inaugural award, Wessell had to be a full member of the college and have completed her degree less than six years ago.

"I always felt fortunate in my path to work with the people I did," she said. "It's clear that the people who invested in me deserve part of the award."

Wessell, a James Island resident, said she was "shocked and humbled" when she found out she won the award. Although she found out about it in November, it will be presented to her on April 6 at the opening general session of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy's Spring Practice and Research Forum in Phoenix.

A lot of Wessell's work focuses on using medication safely, especially for older patients. She participates in rounds at the Family Medicine Inpatient Service, taking fourth-year pharmacy students, attending physicians and residents on rotations, where she "helps students to prioritize ... what is the best way to optimize medication use" and convey that to patients. She often meets not only with patients but their caregivers as well.

"It doesn't make sense to visit someone with diabetes and not meet with the person who cooks their food," she said.

As the pharmacist for the Practice Partner Research Network, she is able to provide feedback for patients in a network that spans 144 physician practices, 700 health care providers, and approximately 1.8 million patients across the nation. She also gets the opportunity to provide educational materials and advice for the physicians and nurses that work in the facilities that are part of the network. PPRNet links physicians through an electronic medical records system.

Wessell said a lot of doors opened for her during her fourth year in pharmacy school, when she was doing rotations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During her residency at the University of Colorado Hospital and Health Sciences Center in Denver, she spent a great deal of time at rural-based family clinics and participating in patients' home visits. She said that model of close-knit knowledge of patients' needs made a great impact on her, and she likes to perform home visits when she can.

On Wednesday nights, Wessell takes some of her students to Crisis Ministries to show them how to administer short-term care and prescriptions, as well as dispense educational tips to the shelter's clients. "It's a learning clinic for both medical and pharmacy students. It's a tremendous opportunity for students," she said. Wessell believes it is important for her them to see "a part of Charleston that is sometimes hidden."

Although her work leaves her busy and often tired, she garners a sense of pride from helping people.

"It's very rewarding to see people doing things that we recommend to them."

Reach Sophia Rodriguez at 937-5538 or srodriguez@postandcourier.com.