Watching the Science of Health Advance: The Joy of Years in Practice

Watching the Science of Health Advance: The Joy of Years in Practice
By: Terri Schmitt PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP
Executive Director, NPACE

One of the absolute delights of multiple years in practice is observing and applying advances in science. During my 30 plus years in healthcare and nearly quarter century in advanced practice I’ve witnessed many advances. Here are just a few of those that stand out to me in awe.
I remember….

• The first time I saw AZT as a student nurse.
• When a new pediatric neurologist in town was the first to give Botox for muscle spasticity and then for migraine headaches.
• The first time I administered long-acting basal insulin that would be dosed only one time per day.
•  ECMO, oscillating ventilators, surfactant in ET tubes of neonates, and so many ICU advances.
•  When routine use of an A1c not only to monitor, but to diagnose diabetes became standard.
• When we stopped using triple dye on umbilical cords and stopped giving a glass rectal thermometer to every single newborn.
•  Giving HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and then anal cancer and then having to explain over and over to parents of pre-teens and teenagers why this was a good thing.
• The advances of point of care testing for all sorts of things without needing to send vials to the lab.
• How phones and watches with apps that have applications that do everything from monitor heart rate and oxygen, run EKGs, ultrasound capability, and so much more.
• Continuous glucose monitoring.
• DNA coding, segmenting, and testing of patients to identify chance of disease.

This brief list could be expanded on with more finesse and knowledge from many others but is a glimpse of change in just a short period of time. This continued forward march of science is thrilling to practice and learn through. More recently, through my work at NPACE, I have been honored to learn more about a new scientific advance on advanced mental health pharmacology based in understanding epigenetics and precision healthcare. 

Epigenetics according to Oxford English Dictionary and Google is, “the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself.”
Precision healthcare (or medicine) is defined as, “medical care designed to optimize efficiency or therapeutic benefit for particular groups of patients, especially by using genetic or molecular profiling.”

On June 6th and 7th, 2024 NPACE held a one-of-a-kind virtual conference centering on improving mental health prescribing among advanced practice providers. Dr. Rhone D’Errico and Dr. Josh Hamilton kicked off the event with a passionate call to action for integration of mental healthcare into primary care practices. From there, Dr. Hamilton laid a foundation of neurobiology and epigenetics and stepped attendees through ever more complicated mental health diagnoses and improving patient outcomes through precision healthcare. This new and emerging model of care healthcare crosses patient needs, diagnosis, patient specific symptoms and personal genetic make-up, and integrates them into treatment choices in therapy, holistic interventions, and medications.

The model of epigenetics and precision healthcare is one all clinicians must learn from the foundations of pathophysiology to how to interpret genetic testing. NPACE is proud to work with Dr. Hamilton in developing this education and bringing it to APPs. To learn about this model, check out this advanced pharmacology on demand education learning here 

If there are other new and critical advances NPACE should be teaching about, please reach out to us with ideas and thoughts at npace@npace.org and to be on the forefront of what we offer in learning follow us on all of our social media.
Onward to future advances to improve patient outcomes!

Terri Schmitt PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP,
Executive Director, NPACE
https://www.npace.org/