Delia Charest Carias

Delia’s Story

Delia Charest Carias, Pharm.D., BCPS graduated from the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. She completed a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She also completed the PGY2 Health System Pharmacy Administration residency at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Currently Dr. Carias is a member of Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners and a member of the Education Steering Committee. At the 2015 Midyear Clinical Meeting, she served as a Clinical Skills Competition Judge. She has also served as a CV reviewer for the past three years. As a new practitioner, Dr. Carias served as a member and the Chair of the Leadership and Career Development Advisory Group for the Section of New Practitioners. Dr. Carias is also excited to join the Pharmacy Leadership Academy for the upcoming 2016-2017 session.

Facility

St. Jude is a unique research and teaching hospital. With less than 100 inpatient beds, the majority of patient care occurs in outpatient clinics that see over 70,000 outpatient visits annually. St. Jude is on the forefront of translational medicine incorporating bench research into bedside care on a daily basis. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food. This is made possible through the generosity of donors all over the world.

Significant Projects

When Dr. Carias first arrived at St. Jude, her position included a component of antimicrobial stewardship. She was responsible for formalizing and maintaining the institutional program. Since that time, the program has taken off. The usage of targeted antimicrobials has significantly decreased, and the timeliness of delivery of key antimicrobials to patients at high risk (i.e., febrile neutropenia and those with a history of multi-drug resistance) has improved.

Dr. Carias worked with other medication safety pharmacists to create a program with an aim of improving the reporting of “near miss” medication events. The Good Catch program recognizes the most significant reported medication event that does not reach the patient. The person that entered the event is rewarded with a “fish” pin and their unit displays the trophy. Since the implementation of this program the awareness of “near miss” events has increased at the institution.

Involvement in ASHP

“During my fourth year of pharmacy school, I was able to conduct an APPE rotation at ASHP Headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. I was involved as a student with my SSHP chapter, but had never thought about what actually occurred on a larger scale. I loved the idea of pharmacists helping other pharmacists across the country make our profession better. Since then I have met wonderful colleagues from all over the country that have helped and challenged me on a daily basis.”

Advice for Someone New to Your Specialty Area

“My advice to someone new in my area would be to learn from your peers. The knowledge of those around you is invaluable. Find a group of colleagues that you can turn to when you have questions. This is not necessarily people at your institution. The ASHP Connect Community is a great place to start!”

“I also encourage new pharmacists to not accept ‘that is how we have always done it.’ By asking questions and challenging the norm you improve patient care.”

ASHP’s Value to Members

“To me, ASHP is invaluable. As a new practitioner, ASHP provided me support and encouragement from my peers all over the country. Now as a ‘non-new’ practitioner, ASHP continues to provide education and guidance on a daily basis.”

“ASHP and its members are constantly pushing our profession to become better and stronger.”