Erica Otto
Erica Otto
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist – Critical Care/Telemetry, Comox Valley Hospital
Clinical Instructor-Practice Educator, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia
Profile submitted by: Kim Hopper
Brief description of role or responsibilities
Clinical pharmacy specialist in Adult Critical Care in Island Health, currently practicing out of Comox Valley Hospital.
Therapeutic interests include critical care, stroke and cardiovascular medicine.
Practice educator for Adult Critical Care rotations offered to UBC PharmD students and PGY1 pharmacy residents. Facilitates the Ischemic Stroke academic half day for the Island Health Residency program.
Describe how the individual or team made a positive contribution to patient care or their pharmacy department:
Erica is a wonderful and patient teacher! She is passionate about pharmacy and encourages those around her to grow and learn. As I was a 30-year community pharmacist with no hospital experience or additional training, accepting a position as a hospital pharmacist at CVH in Jan 2022 was a daunting undertaking. Community pharmacy is vastly different than hospital and many days I felt overwhelmed and intimidated. Fortunately, I had Erica! She is an incredible wealth of information and is always willing to answer all of my questions and lend her knowledge and guidance in any situation.
I have loved the opportunity to lunch and learn at the Clinical rounds she coordinates every second Thursday. One week, I had checked in with Erica to see the discussion topic for Clinical rounds that particular Thursday and she had let me know, that due to the short week, rounds had been cancelled. She then went on to say, that if I had any topic that I wished to discuss further, to let her know and I could come up to the ICU on my lunch break and have a private meeting. I certainly accepted the invitation and was able to spend the next hour discussing Child-Pugh’s Scores and Hepatic Failure with her.
I am always so impressed that someone with Erica’s Clinical training and expertise, finds time to coach and teach her fellow pharmacists. She is a team player who has certainly been an important part in my journey from community to hospital pharmacist. Thank you, Erica!