Working my way through Pharmacist CE’s this month for licensing renewal. It tests me…. not because of difficulty, but because of industry bias and study references that have pharma ties, and quiz questions must be answered as they want them answered, not because of the full truth.
Not all CE’s are like this, but the vast majority are. It’s pharma after all.
Thankfully, I subscribe to a CE and pharmacist education program (NatMed Pro) which focuses on “natural med”…. their words, not mine. Tho I do agree wholeheartedly. I don’t always agree with some of what is said even in these CE’s because there is still some pharma industry bias that shines thru. You’ll never see them cite “Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism” by Yance, “Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer” by Yance and Valentine, “Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health” by Romm…. because if they did, there would be more truth in the CE’s than what is portrayed in the watered down version we get in NatMed Pro. Doing this type of CE in between the hardcore pharma CE’s at least lowers my pulse rate and blood pressure and lessens my desire to yell at the screen .
All this to say…. It’s good to stay abreast of all things. To learn what is being said about a product, to parse out the pieces of truth as well as the pieces of fluff or even outright gaslighting (which I see in CE’s quite often. Heavy sigh . )
I’m reading back through this post now, and you can probably see how my brain ping pongs between the two worlds of pharma and herbalism/ natural healing.
I took a couple of screenshots (shared here) of one of these CE’s that I DID actually learn something in. It was quite good…. covering turmeric, elderberry, cranberry, ashwagandha, and a few other herbals. For the most part, I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars (high rating in the pharma CE world when you’re a pharmacist with strong leanings towards the natural! )
Thought you might appreciate this info on turmeric. We tend to think about turmeric as fantastic for supporting proper inflammatory response. I did not know it held some pretty amazing properties benefitting those with NAFLD (non alcoholic fatty liver disease), so bonus points for this particular CE .
Not all turmeric is equal. Do your research…. deeply. Know your sources and understand how THEY (the people you follow) learn what they know. Know your product too….. the supplement world is a tricky one…. just as tricky as pharma in many cases.
I’m here for you if you’ve got questions. xoxo~ Liz
