Embracing Diversities: Patient Care Will Pave the Way for Public Health

Changes in the pharmacy industry have trickled down into education for students, triggering a need for them to remain adaptable, yet still focused on individualized patient care.

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In the past, the pharmacy profession was focused on filling and delivering prescriptions; rarely was it about more than medication. Although medication is of the utmost importance to pharmacists, the landscape has been changing to accommodate the needs of patients, whether this includes medication counseling, vaccine administration, or point-of-care tests. Pharmacy schools have also been seeing a change not only in education about personalized patient care and community-centered care, but there has been an emphasis on accommodating other routes of pharmacy that students have been interested in.

In findings from a study published by BMC Medical Education, change is good. Although pharmacy curricula often undergo reviews to help produce the most up-to-date and capable new generation of pharmacy professionals, there has rarely been a need for an entire revamp of the curricula, according to the study authors. We see this changing as more students begin to explore pharmacy but not necessarily with a traditional pharmacy background. The study results indicated that, based on student evaluations via post-course survey, graduates who participated in a full curriculum reform had greater efficacy in their clinical work, were more satisfied with their education, and were more confident with their career choices.¹

In this issue of Pharmacy Careers, we explore topics linked to advocating not only for patients but also for yourself as a pharmacy student who will one day be an expert in your field. This issue explores different tools from pharmacy professionals, examining potential paths for prospective students and advice from fellow peers.

For example, Maimah Karmo, the founder and CEO of the Tigerlily Foundation, discusses how pharmacists and pharmacy students can work with patient advocacy to better serve their patients. As the health care professionals who see patients most often, pharmacists are in a unique position to advocate for and help them. Furthermore, Lena Jadrawi dives deeper into the importance of embracing your own diversity to better serve groups who that been underserved in pharmacy.

However, patients are not the only ones who need advocacy. Olatunji Gbadebo, a fourth-year pharmacy student, highlights his path to pharmacy, offering the advice he has learned from his time in pharmacy school. Amanda DeMarzo, PharmD, MBA, touches on how pharmacy school should not be a one-size-fits-all approach, indicating that pharmacy rotations should not be the standard of success for pharmacy school.

Pharmacy is in a constant state of advancement, and it makes sense for pharmacy schools to follow suit in this time of change. Additional topics include pharmacogenomics, how pharmacy schools can better include abortion laws in the curricula, and a history of opioids affecting public health. We hope you enjoy reading these and other stories in this issue of Pharmacy Careers and gain insight into how the pharmacy industry continues to evolve and change health care and the societal landscape.

Thank you for reading.

Reference

1. Singh HK, Lyons KM, Brock TP, Malone DT. Effect of a curriculum transformation on pharmacy student self-efficacy, self-reported activities, and satisfaction in degree and career choice. BMC Med Educ. 2023;23(1):304. doi:10.1186/s12909-023-04280-7