Recently, OSU College of Pharmacy alum, Kayla McGahey (’13), received a wonderful job opportunity as Clinical Research Pharmacist with Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Goodyear, AZ.
Part of her job is to perform medication reviews during the process of a patient consenting for clinical trial. This is to counsel the patient regarding the study drug and to go over their current medications in regards to interactions with the study drug. She is also the main contact for the medical oncologists, clinical coordinators, and RNs for questions regarding concomitant medications while their patients are enrolled in a study. “If a patient gets pneumonia while enrolled in a trial, I might get a call/email from the medical oncologist to make sure the antibiotic they want to prescribe is allowed per the study protocol and won’t interact with the study drug,” says Dr. McGahey.
A large part of her job also involves drug accountability and keeping records for all of the study drugs. She verifies and dispenses investigational drug orders and monitors patient lab results for toxicities prior to drug dispensing.
“Since starting my job here, I have grown tremendously regarding clinical research and investigational chemotherapy agents,” Dr. McGahey told us, “I have wonderful mentor here who have been teaching me how to be successful in my new role; without them, I would be lost. I feel so grateful and excited to have this opportunity and am proud to represent OSU College of Pharmacy in my new role!”