[Dysphagia] medications and dysphagia resources

[mbuckie at dmc.org (Buckie,Marcia)]

Hello-
 
I deleted the post accidentally..but a few days back there was an exchange about medication side effects and dysphagia. As far as resources to go to, it will depend on the pharmacist and your own base knowledge of medicine..so you know the questions to ask them.
 
I have reviewed the site for Irene's CD which is on my professional wishlist , but I wanted to point out that the profession of pharmacy is evolving quite a bit, and there are pharmacists that are clinical specialists in psychiatry, neurology, gerontololgy , infectious disease, etc. While they may not share our knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of swallowing, they do know about neuroscience and the nervous system, and of course, depending on the area in which they work, may have a basic understanding or a comprehensive understanding of what you are asking them. My husband is a pharmacist, which is probably why I wanted to post. If he can't answer one of my questions,  he often can find someone in his department who can.
 
You know how someone of us get frustrated when other professionals underestimate our training? Well, pharmacist want people to know their degree is not in "taking pills from big bottles and putting them in smaller bottles."  I think initially, a pharmacist might be surprised that a SLP/dysphagia therapist would have a clinical overlay with them but there is a knowledge base that can be tapped there, as well.
 
MBuckie
Sinai-Grace Hospital