As part of Antibiotic Awareness Week, the College of Pharmacy puts a spotlight on Kayla Antosz, 2019 Pharm.D., who recently joined the faculty as a clinical instructor and has taken on the role as lead pharmacist with the Antimicrobial Stewardship Collaborative of South Carolina.
ASC-SC is funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and administered by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Partnered with the UofSC School of Medicine Columbia and the College of Pharmacy, the group’s aim is to improve antimicrobial stewardship across the state.
Antosz completed both her PGY1 general pharmacy residency and PGY2 infectious diseases residency at Prisma Health Midlands.
“I work with a team of physicians, pharmacists and other health care providers to support antimicrobial stewardship efforts, especially in rural hospitals,” Antosz says. “We provide telehealth programs twice monthly on topics related to infectious diseases or stewardship, and we also review patient cases from time to time."
“We want to have communication and participation with rural health centers to improve antibiotic use.”
According to the CDC, antimicrobial resistance is a growing problem in the U.S., and antimicrobial stewardship programs have been shown to help reduce the burden of antibiotic resistance and improve patient outcomes, along with reducing health care spending. November 18-24 is Antibiotic Awareness Week.
Say yes to opportunities because you don’t know if it is something you might want to do down the road ...
When she graduated from the College of Pharmacy, Antosz never suspected that just a few short years later, she would return to campus as a clinical instructor.
“I did not think going into residency that I wanted to teach at all,” Antosz says. “I had become interested in antimicrobial stewardship, but the more I got involved in my residency, I became more confident in my knowledge and in sharing that with others.”
Given her experiences during her residency, Antosz now advises students and colleagues alike to be open-minded in their career choices.
“Say yes to opportunities because you don’t know if it is something you might want to do down the road,” she says. “I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to give back to the college where I learned so much.”
Topics: Post-graduate Training, Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences