The College of Pharmacy welcomed Lorin Fisher in July 2020 as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science. She is also a clinical pharmacy specialist for the Adult Palliative Care Clinic at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Fisher works with an interdisciplinary healthcare team to address patient symptoms associated with serious illnesses and to align medication regimens with patient care goals. She also serves as a preceptor to pharmacy students and teaches courses in the PharmD curriculum. She works closely with palliative care colleagues to advance the Palliative Care Certificate Program and increase the visibility of clinical efforts in palliative care at the regional and national levels.
As a clinician, Fisher’s goal is to help establish unique clinical pharmacy services for pharmacists practicing in palliative care. These services include, but are not limited to, opioid risk mitigation, telehealth services, and pharmacist-led practice models. In academia, she enjoys working with palliative care faculty colleagues to create and implement innovative tools and strategies to teach students and practicing healthcare professionals the value of palliative care.
Being able to reflect on a patients’ goals and values, make recommendations to ease a patient’s suffering, and help patients become more functional provides me a great sense of purpose and satisfaction,” says Fisher. “Sharing ‘ah-ha’ moments with my students and colleagues is what keeps me feeling motivated.
One area of research Fisher has worked in is opioid risk mitigation for palliative care patients. Many guidelines regarding opioid use prevent patients from receiving end-of-life or palliative care. She and her colleagues have worked to implement an opioid safety protocol, which includes co-prescribing naloxone for patients with risk factors for opioid overdose or respiratory depression.
Fisher hopes to create and implement innovative practice models for pharmacists working in the ambulatory care setting to increase patient access to healthcare and to demonstrate value in clinical services. Her vision is the integration of palliative care throughout the healthcare continuum.
Fisher graduated from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy in 2018 and completed residencies in Iowa City. She is from Wapello, Iowa and credits her career path in palliative care to family experiences, clinical interests, and education.