Program and grad year: BSc(Pharm)’08
Career: Assistant Professor of Teaching, UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutica Sciences; Cofounder and Clinical Pharmacist, Elix Health Canada
From practice to teaching: Dr. Jane Xia helps pharmacists navigate contraceptive prescribing
When Dr. Jane Xia, BSc(Pharm)’08, thinks about developing tools for pharmacists, she starts with what actually happens in practice. Jane has seen pharmacy from a lot of different angles since graduating from UBC Pharm Sci. She has worked in community pharmacy, pharmacy management, the pharmaceutical industry, regulation and specialty pharmacy. She completed an MBA at Simon Fraser University and a PharmD at the University of Toronto, and in 2018 helped launch a hepatitis C screening program through London Drugs. She returned to the Faculty in 2019, this time as an educator, and is now an Assistant Professor of Teaching with clinical and research interests that include women’s health and patient journeys.
That range of experience has influenced how Jane approaches both teaching and practice. “I’ve always had a passion for sharing the knowledge that I’ve gained,” she says. “What’s the point of knowledge if we can’t share it, and everybody can utilize that to advance their practices?”
A growing focus on women’s health
That experience has also shaped Jane’s growing focus on women’s health. Outside of her role at UBC, she and her husband launched a pharmacist-led virtual menopause clinic, where Jane works with patients experiencing perimenopause and menopause. Her consultations focus on education, medication review and helping patients understand potential treatment options based on their symptoms and health history. When appropriate, she provides recommendations to the patient’s physician, with an emphasis on working collaboratively rather than providing care in isolation.
Jane sees considerable potential for pharmacists to play a larger role in this area of care. She believes pharmacists’ medication expertise positions them well to support patients navigating menopause and hopes the profession’s role will continue to expand.
Building confidence in contraceptive prescribing
That same interest in women’s health, combined with Jane’s experience in community pharmacy and teaching, has now contributed to a new collaboration with UBC Pharm Sci’s Continuing Pharmacy Professional Development (CPPD) unit: digital contraception prescribing tools designed to support clinical decision-making and patient-centred contraceptive care. The tools are now available through CPPD as a practical resource for pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.
The idea came in part from Jane’s experience in community pharmacy. Since pharmacists in British Columbia gained authority to prescribe contraception, they have taken on a greater role in helping patients assess their options. But prescribing can mean navigating contraindications, different formulations and a growing number of products.
For pharmacists who have been practicing for years, contraception may also be very different from what they encountered during their original training. “Many pharmacists feel they lack the time, education, and resources needed to feel confident initiating a contraception prescription,” Jane says.
The new tools are intended to make that process easier to navigate. Pharmacists work through a series of screening questions based on a patient's health history. The tools help identify contraindications and narrow the contraceptive options that may be appropriate. Importantly to Jane, it also provides reasoning behind the results.
“What’s the point of building a tool if pharmacists don’t understand the ‘why’ behind it?” she shares. “The information is there not only to guide them, but also to help them understand the context and rationale behind the recommendations.”
That means pharmacists can use it not only during patient care, but also as a learning resource. Jane suggests pharmacists who are less familiar with contraceptive prescribing can first work through previous cases to become comfortable with the process before using the tools in practice.
Looking beyond the pill
Jane also hopes the tools will help pharmacists have broader conversations with patients about contraception. One example is long-acting reversible contraception, such as intrauterine devices and implants. Pharmacists may not be able to provide the insertion themselves, but Jane says that should not prevent them from discussing these options with patients and helping them understand what may be appropriate.
A pharmacist could, for example, discuss longer-term options with a patient and provide a short-acting method while the patient waits to see another healthcare professional for insertion. The goal is to make sure patients hear about the range of appropriate options rather than limiting the conversation to what can be provided immediately in the pharmacy.
For Jane, this is where the practical realities of pharmacy matter. A clinical resource has to be accurate, but it also has to work in a busy practice environment. The digital format allows pharmacists to work through the assessment and retain a record with the prescription.
Bringing practice back into the classroom
Jane also sees another audience for the tool: PharmD students. She currently teaches contraception to third-year pharmacy students and sees the tools as a way for students to work through cases and learn the reasoning behind different contraceptive choices before they enter practice. “They can use these tools to work through the decision-making process,” explains Jane. “And when they go into practice, these are tools they can continue to use to support their prescribing.”
That connection between current practitioners and future pharmacists fits closely with CPPD’s role at the Faculty. The unit develops continuing education, programs and practical resources to help pharmacy professionals expand their knowledge and respond to changes in practice. For Jane, it also brings together several parts of a career that has included practicing, learning, teaching and developing new approaches to patient care.
Her experience in regulatory helped her understand what pharmacists can do within their scope, while her time in industry gave her a better understanding of the challenges faced by other healthcare professionals. Those perspectives now inform how she thinks about practical solutions for pharmacists and patients.
And she is still looking ahead. With a particular interest in women’s health, Jane sees potential for pharmacists to take on a greater role in menopause care in the future. For now, the contraception project offers one example of how education and practical tools can help pharmacists make use of an expanding scope of practice.