Knowing Your Patient is as Important as Knowing Your Psychopharmacology, NP Institute Steering Committee Emphasizes

“Book knowledge is very important, but each patient is their own unique textbook,” observed Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH, during the Welcome Session on the Principles of Psychopharmacology at the inaugural NP Institute In-Person meeting, alongside co-presenters and fellow Steering Committee members, Andrew Penn, MS, and Craig Chepke, MD, DFAPA.

The “Principles of Psychopharmacology” session kicked off NP Institute on Friday afternoon, serving as a deep dive introductory course that laid the groundwork for advance practice providers (APPs) to develop a strong psychopharmacologic knowledge base that they will build upon in subsequent sessions. The sessions will focus on different disease states and medication classes throughout the conference, held in Boston, Massachusetts.

“We want to acknowledge where we’ve been—we are improving on older drugs and branching out in new directions,” remarked Penn, who started the session with an overview of the history of psychopharmacology and highlighting some of its “greatest hits,” including alcohol use in 7000 BCE to the discovery of LSD in 1943 to the popularization of clozapine in 1990.

“[But] many times when a new drug comes out, people assume it is better than the old ones; this isn’t always true.” Penn urged attendees to stay vigilant with FDA updates and subsequent trials as psychiatry continues to evolve as a field of medical practice.

Session attendees were also treated to an overview of “7 Learnings from 30 Years as a Psychopharmacologist” from Dr Jain. “In my 30th year since my formal training, I stand before you, humbled by clinical practice,” Jain said as he emphasized the extended arc of life-long learning that APPs can anticipate experiencing over the course of their careers.

Dr Jain urged the audience to not only know medication doses, titration schedules, and side effects but also to develop an exit strategy. “The art of prescribing is only as good as the art of deprescribing…if you can do this, you have done your patients a great service.” In a spirited interactive moment, he invited the audience to connect and promise to be mentors for one another. Sharing knowledge and experiences is a key part of practice, he advised.

To round out the session, Dr Chepke shared thoughts on how APPs can best navigate the future of psychopharmacology, serving as a bridge between clinical trial results and patients who might benefit from new therapies.

“Patients look to us to know when a side effect will start, how bad it could be, and when it will go away—not just it’s frequency,” Dr Chepke said. “Results must be meaningful, not just significant; however, they always exist in a spectrum of possibilities.

The first annual NP Institute In-Person meeting will run for 4 days, through Monday, May 1, 2023. For expert insights straight from the session rooms, visit our meeting newsroom.

Reference

Chepke C, Jain R, Penn A. Welcome Session: Principles of Psychopharmacology. Presented at NP Institute In-Person; April 28, 2023.