APPE Students helps managing diabetes and presents at national meeting by Dr. K. Sawicki

Dr. Lexxie Hinkley (UNE PharmD class of 2023) always had a passion for diabetes management, and after her APPE experience with Dr. Sawicki at Penobscot Community Health Care (PCHC) she realized the vital need for pharmacists to be involved in the management of this disease state. Through her APPE experience she got to witness how diet plays a major role in maintaining adequate sugar levels. Not only was she involved with diabetes appointments, but she gained a sense of independence through facilitating INRs appointments. This ambulatory care rotation allowed her to build personal connections to patients and provided substantial knowledge surrounding diabetes and anticoagulation management. This experience ultimately led Lexxie to pursue a PGY1 with PCHC. Lexxie successfully matched with PCHC and started her PGY1 residency in July of 2023. For her PGY1 residency project, Lexxie and her mentor Dr. Sawicki will be doing research on the impact pharmacists have on HbA1c in overbasalized patients within PCHC. Lexxie plans to present her findings at ASHP’s Annual Clinical Midyear meeting.