With so many chemotherapies, immunotherapies, & more out there, it's hard to keep them all straight. So here's my secret: I DON'T.
After working for a few years in OncoPT, I've picked up a few trends & just straight memorized some, but this is NOT necessary to start treating patients with cancer.
The smarter thing to do is use your resources when you need them.
Doing an eval with a patient on some drug you've never heard of before? Look it up.
But I wouldn't recommend just any old Google search for this - use this resource to know exactly what you need right away.
What is Chemocare.com?
Chemocare.com is a website that is literally chemotherapy 101. While it was created primarily for patients & caregivers, it is immensely useful for health care providers because it gives quick snippets on chemotherapy & other cancer treatments.
It's maintained by the Cleveland Clinic, so it's not a wild west Facebook group page.
Benefits of Chemocare.com
Because Chemocare.com is a patient/caregiver resource website, it doesn't always provide specific musculoskeletal side effects or impairments related to cancer treatments. This is where I would recommend supplementing your knowledge with other materials, including Maltser et al., 2017 A Focused Review of Safety Considerations in Cancer Rehabilitation or the upcoming textbook Oncology Rehabilitation (Ep. 196). Both of these are linked below!
However, it is immensely helpful for finding out quick info about the drug, which is particularly useful when you're evaluating a patient or working with a patient on a drug you're not familiar with.
How to use Chemocare.com
When you first navigate to chemocare.com, you'll find the homepage with a bunch of different buttons & links, all related to chemotherapy.
If you're looking for info on a specific agent, click "Drug Info" at the top of the page. Or you can enter the name of the drug into the search bar.
Once you pull up the specific agent, Chemocare has the information organized into different headings that are extremely easy to navigate & standardized across the entire website.
Tips & tricks for Chemocare.com
Use Chemocare.com as your starting point, in a pinch.
Then supplement your info with more cancer rehab specific sources that I've linked below.
Chemotherapy doesn't have to feel overwhelming
Especially when we first start treating patients with cancer, it can feel overwhelming & frankly impossible to keep all the drugs straight. So until chemotherapy just becomes second nature, don't try to memorize them for the sake of memorizing them. Chemocare has really helped me understand the drugs & apply that knowledge clinically.
The more I've done that over the past few years, the easier the drugs come to me. It's okay to use your resources smartly.
More from this episode:
Use these resources to help you learn more about chemotherapy & other cancer treatments!
Chemocare.com
A Focused Review of Safety Considerations in Cancer Rehabilitation
Oncology Rehabilitation: A Comprehensive Guidebook for Clinicians (my affiliate link)
Until next time, this is Elise with TheOncoPT. And remember: you are exactly the physical therapist that your patients with cancer need. So let's get to work.
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