This week’s APPE Student Highlight features Hunter Johnson, a fourth-year student from Woodstock, GA, who recently completed a nuclear pharmacy rotation. He gained hands-on experience learning pharmacy workflow and drawing up radiopharmaceutical doses. His 200 practical hours from this rotation will count toward the 500 required for Authorized User status, bringing him one step closer to his goal of becoming a nuclear pharmacist.
Hunter Johnson (Indirect Nuclear, Cardinal Health Nuclear Pharmacy Services):
Where are you from?
I’m originally from Alma, GA, but I currently live in Woodstock, GA.
What are your career plans?
I plan to pursue a career in nuclear pharmacy. This requires Authorized User status, which is granted after completing 200 didactic nuclear education hours and 500 practical hours. I completed the 200 didactic hours through Purdue University during my P3 year.
Describe your rotation experience.
The order of operations is similar to a normal hospital pharmacy – doses are drawn up in a clean room, dispensed, and then delivered. Beyond that, though, the work looks quite different. Additional protections exist at every step to minimize radiation exposure to the pharmacists, technicians, and delivery drivers. The inclusion of drivers is also a major difference – the doses drawn at a dispensing nuclear pharmacy will be driven out to the various hospitals and clinics that have ordered the radiopharmaceuticals. This, along with transferring medications and radioisotope generators between pharmacies, requires a great deal of coordination. After I learned the workflow, I worked more closely with the nuclear pharmacist in charge to actually practice drawing up radiopharmaceutical doses, which requires a particular technique to minimize radiation exposure and prevent radioactive contamination in the clean room. I feel lucky to have been given the chance to practice these skills as a student.
How will this experience help you in your future as a pharmacist?
My APPE consisted of 200 practical hours, which will count toward the 500 required to achieve Authorized User status. Additionally, the knowledge and experience gained means I won’t have to start from zero when I begin working after graduation.
