Janice Dillman has no trouble telling you that she has been a practicing pharmacist for 37 years. “I wanted to be involved in good patient care,” she says of choosing her profession more than 40 years ago.

Back in those days, a student could enter pharmacy school directly from high school. Today, pharmacy students enter the program with at least one year of university training. More often, students have already obtained one degree.

The world of pharmacy has changed in so many ways since Janice graduated. At that time there were no online resources to reference, pharmacists had shelves full of reference books to search for drug information, labels were typed on typewriters, patient profiles were hand written and they used carbon paper. Today, it is almost a completely different world, including four times the number of prescription drugs available on the market.

One class of drug that didn’t exist back when Janice started practicing are Biological Response Modifiers, or Biologics. These drugs were first trialed 17 years ago and have been on the market for fifteen years.

Biologics are genetically engineered proteins designed to inhibit specific components of the immune system that fuel inflammation; thereby are effective when used to treat certain conditions where inflammation plays a large part (such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s Disease and Colitis).

A "biologic" medication is created from natural sources. The FDA website defines them as coming from “human, animal, or microorganism - and may be produced by biotechnology methods and other cutting-edge technologies. Gene-based and cellular biologics, for example, often are at the forefront of biomedical research, and may be used to treat a variety of medical conditions for which no other treatments are available.” If you watch American television you likely have seen advertisements for these medications and names like Humira and Enbrel are likely familiar; however, biologics are not the right treatment for everybody. Because of their complexity, biologics are only available in injectable form. This makes treatment with them more complicated than with regular prescription medications.

Janice has her “Biological Treatment in Patient Care” Certificate. She and her colleagues at the pharmacy train patients who are just stating treatment on certain biologics how to self-administer their  medication, the proper care and storage of their injections and how to have the best results from this treatment.

Having an interest in rheumatoid arthritis led Janice to work with the rheumatologists in Halifax and develop a Methotrexate Compliance Program. Methotrexate is the “cornerstone” of rheumatoid arthritis therapy, by itself or in combination with other medications. Of course, to get maximum effectiveness from Methotrexate, it must be taken properly. There can be some side effects. Janice counsels patients on the proper use of this medication, and how to best manage the side effects, along with the importance of staying on it when other medications, such as a biologic, are added to therapy.

Pharmacists dispense a lot of medications for clients with Diabetes.  Maintaining proper control of diabetes by keeping blood sugars levels in the target range can sometimes be challenging. Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) is an important way in which physicians can more closely monitor glucose levels in their patients, and provides insight into how diet, medication, and daily activities affect these levels. People with diabetes can work with a healthcare professional to use the information from a CGM to help determine patterns in their glucose levels, to better manage their diabetes, and prevent complications.  Janice has taken training to be able to provide the CGM studies and pass along the information gathered to the patients’ primary healthcare provider.

Janice was one of the first pharmacists in the province trained and certified to administer injections, including immunizations. She has since been involved in teaching the immunization and injection certification at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, to pharmacists and students from the Atlantic provinces. Her pharmacy provides many  annual flu shots both at their store and at off-site workplace clinics.

Janice embraces any new service a pharmacist can provide: such as the assessment of, and prescribing for, minor ailments (conditions including: seasonal allergies and cold sores).

“These are ways that we can improve patient care,” says Janice.  This is her focus: how can she best help her patient. This is why she became a pharmacist. 

“When a customer comes back and says you made a recommendation and it’s really helped...that’s the best part,” Janice says.

She is not eyeing retirement any time soon. There are more things to learn and more patients to help.

“I’m going to stick around for awhile,” she says. “I like what I do.”