- Aerospace medicine provides a unique twist on traditional medicine.
- A subspecialty for physicians exists to care for the altered body systems as a result of extreme environments.
- Pharmacy practice has expanded to accommodate specialized medicine through pharmacy residencies.
- No formal training in aerospace medicine currently exists for pharmacists.
- Time and resources are committed behind the scenes that require an understanding of pharmaceutical science and an understanding of all the aspects of flight.
- NOMI, Brooks, NASA, and virtually every country represented in AsMAhas some form of a Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee to determine not only safe use of drugs in aerospace for physical ailments, but also performance “management.”
- An understanding of the changes to the body and body systems as it relates to pharmacy is necessary by the profession.
- Providing an Aerospace Pharmacy residency would accomplish this task and allow pharmacists to provide better care for aerospace and space travelers in both government and civilian programs.
Pharmacy practice areas embedded within aerospace medicine are identified.
Deficits in current pharmacy curriculum identified
–Physiological changes to body in microgravity
–Changes to pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
–Pharmaceutics issues
•Fluid properties in zero G
–Drug delivery systems
–Interpretation of pharmacy law
Aerospace Physiologic Changes Not Addressed in Current Pharmacy School Curriculum
•Pathophysiologyof the body (Patient Care, Pharmacovigilance, DI, Commercial Space Travel)
Understanding of all altered body systems important for pharmacist to understand in order to provide best treatment options
–Altered blood volume –pharmacokinetics?
–Altered hepatic/renal fxn–therapeutics?
•Biodynamicsof acceleration
•Aerospace otolaryngology
•Aerospace ophthalmology
•Aerospace cardiology
•Aerospace neurology
•Aerospace nephrology
•Radiation biology
–Effects on body, what about drugs?
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