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RAMPS: An Infectious Expert By Marie Yu Dr. Cindy Loffler is an expert on bugs, and no she’s not an entomologist. She’s a doctor of pharmacy with a specialty in infectious diseases. Her specialty means that she’s an expert on bacterial and viral infections and more important clinically, an expert on antibiotics. Her main role at the UCSF Medical Center is to serve as a consultant to the health care teams taking care of very sick patients. She is the go-to professional for recommendations on which antibiotics to prescribe, the dosage, and length of treatment. She also helps in diagnosing which nasty agent was causing the infection. Her job requires her to read and analyze patient profiles, medication history, and lab results. Each day is busy and different, presenting a frontier of new cases and mysteries to work through in order to find the optimal treatment plan for the patients. As the infectious disease specialist, she also monitors patterns of antibiotic use in the hospital. With antibiotic-resistant bacteria on the rise, inappropriate uses of antibiotics pose a big problem. She frequently goes on the floors to check medication administration logs to double check that antibiotic use and levels were appropriate for each patient’s unique scenario. She also rounds with health care teams, which include physicians, residents, pharmacists, etc. While on rounds, she makes recommendations, answers questions, and makes notes on each patient. She also carries an infectious disease pager that other health-care professionals could contact if they had questions as well. Many databases and other specialists are at her disposal if she runs into a rare case that needed further research. Although Dr. Loffler doesn’t have prescribing powers, she does wield some power on her turf. Certain powerhouse antibiotics were reserved only for the most severe of infectious cases and although doctors still prescribed them, it was up to the infectious disease team to evaluate whether it was necessary and/or appropriate. Expensive antibiotics also have the same protocol, and she is the gatekeeper to these drugs. Dr. Loffler enjoys her work very much. Her job is regarded highly in both her own profession and other health care professions as well. The medical teams in the hospital respect her position and her knowledge. And although some of the days were long and challenging, Dr. Loffler said that she always feels rewarded at the end of the day. Ed’s note: This is the final report from pharmacy students involved in the Rx Alumni Mentoring for Pharmacy Students program,
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