Jennifer Ku, PharmD, BCPS
A Provider and Teacher of Compassionate Patient Care
I am a Palliative Care Clinical Pharmacist who, after three years of studying nutrition, decided that drugs were more interesting than food. After growing as a clinician, teacher, and leader during my training; I now work as clinical pharmacist on an interprofessional inpatient palliative care service at an academic medical center.
After a cumulative 20 years of schooling, I am following in the footsteps of all the amazing teachers and preceptors who shaped me into the person I am today. My aim to provide that same mentorship to other healthcare professionals in training so that they, too, will be able to provide their patients with the holistic and compassionate care needed to live the best quality of life possible. Thus, my long term professional goal is to become a clinical faculty member at a health professional program who contributes to the education of future healthcare providers and the body of palliative care literature.
Throughout my career, I strive to be involved in interprofessional education and to practice clinically in pain management and palliative care. In the past, I have been intimately involved in interprofessional initiatives as a participant, researcher, and innovator and strongly believe that collaborative interprofessional practice is vital for delivering safe and quality patient care in today’s healthcare system. Now, I have the privilege to work with learners from a variety of healthcare professionals both in the didactic and experiential setting as a member of an interprofessional team. My interest in pain management and palliative care was initially peaked by my advocacy work in rescue naloxone and medical cannabis and has continued to grow with each clinical experience and project I work on related to the specialty area.
When I am not studying, caring for patients, precepting and teaching health professional students or working on an ever-growing list of projects, I fill my free time by writing fiction, traversing rope courses and ziplines, breaking out of escape rooms, exploring local restaurants, and creating new memories in the Washington DC Metro Area.
PGY2 Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacy Resident, University of Iowa College of Pharmacy
July 2018 - June 2019
• Delivered comprehensive palliative care as part of an interdisciplinary team in the Palliative Care Clinic
• Taught and developed palliative care and pain management related lectures, case studies, and courses at the College of Pharmacy
• Precepted pharmacy students on both palliative care and pain management advanced pharmacy practice experiences
• Analyzed for types of pharmacist interventions associated with clinically significant improvement in functional pain outcomes in chronic pain patients managed by the Pain Medication Management Clinic
Teaching Assistant, University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy
January 2016 - April 2016
• Led discussions and answered questions regarding the patient care process, physical assessment skills, and commonly used medications and medical devices for osteoarthritis, COPD, diabetes, and DVT
• Proctored patient simulations and practical exams
• Authored a guide on how to avoid HIPAA violations
• Wrote quiz questions
Sterile Products Area Pharmacy Technician, UNC Health Care
June 2014 - September 2016
• Compounded sterile non-hazardous and hazardous products in an ISO Class 5 clean room
• Trained newly hired student employees on aseptic technique on the job
• Assembled Mini-Bag Plus products
PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, University of Utah Health
June 2017 - June 2018
• Staffed as a clinical pharmacist in Central Pharmacy, Ortho Trauma and Surgical Specialty unit, and Surgical Specialty and Transplant unit
• Reviewed medication errors and documented recommendations to improve medication safety
• Supervised and trained pharmacy students, interns, and technicians
• Created and implemented a pain management guidance document within the Neurocritical Care Unit as part of a longitudinal project to improve nurse satisfaction with pain management in neurocritical patients
Palliative Care Clinical Pharmacist, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
August 2019 - Present
• Providing direct whole person patient care for palliative care patients as a member of an interdisciplinary palliative medicine team
• Assisting in safe and optimal use of medications, including medication dosing, administration, monitoring for efficacy and counseling for patients and families
• Cross-training palliative care team members in pharmacotherapeutic concepts related to palliative care
• Teaching interprofessional palliative education in both the didactic and experiential setting for learners from multiple disciplines
Pharmacy Intern, Johns Hopkins Home Care Group
June 2015 - July 2015
• Wrote standard operating procedures for prescription scanning, Kronos use, compounding skills assessment, IV onboarding, and student and staff orientations
• Created a compounding skills assessment tool to evaluate compounding competency of newly hired pharmacists and recommend didactic training
• Developed an orientation program for pharmacy students including a powerpoint presentation, itinerary, and pre- and post-training surveys