Oncology pharmacists serve an important role on the patient’s care team because much of cancer treatment is achieved with infused and oral medications.
Supportive care drugs are also used to prevent and manage side effects to maintain patient comfort during the course of treatment.
Pharmacists have a bachelor of science or doctor of pharmacy degree. Oncology-specialized pharmacists have additional training and experience. Board-certified oncology pharmacists pass a rigorous test and fulfill requirements to maintain certification.
At Minnesota Oncology, our oncology pharmacists provide recommendations and guidelines to clinicians for optimal disease and side-effect management, clinical guidelines for chemotherapy drugs, drug education to physicians and nurses, and oversight of technician admixture and chemotherapy handling.
Admixture technicians prepare the chemotherapy and other infusional medications to be administered in our outpatient clinic infusion rooms. Admixture is performed in biological safety cabinets housed in specialized clean rooms in the clinic to ensure a sterile and safe environment for IV drug preparation for patients and staff. Minnesota Oncology technicians have achieved certified pharmacy technician status and maintain their skills with continuing education.
Pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists with preparing prescription medications for patients, managing drug inventory, providing customer service, and performing administrative duties in the pharmacy setting.
Minnesota Oncology maintains a fully-licensed retail pharmacy at the Maplewood Cancer Center for the use of patients and staff. Our pharmacy stocks all of the most widely used oral cancer treatment medications, some of which are not carried by many pharmacies. The pharmacy staff has in-depth knowledge of these medications, pain management, and drug interactions, and are available to review medications with each patient.
Patients at any of Minnesota Oncology’s 12 clinic locations can fill their prescriptions through the Maplewood Cancer Center pharmacy. Medications can be mailed to your home or picked up at the pharmacy. Specialty drugs are shipped via FedEx to track shipments.