Know Your Medicine, Know Your Pharmacist

A campaign launched by the American Pharmacists Association will promote pharmacist services throughout the month of October.

Pharmacy has a bit of a public relations problem, if you ask Tom Menighan, BSPharm, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).

“I often hear from pharmacists, ‘We need a PR campaign. If they [consumers] only knew what we had to offer,’” Menighan wrote in a recent blog post.

Pharmacists are trained medication experts, but some patients have no idea how knowledgeable the individual behind the counter really is. Making that known will be APhA’s focus for the few weeks, as the organization embarks on a month-long observance of American Pharmacists Month. The campaign’s slogan is “Know Your Medicine, Know Your Pharmacist,” a mantra that stresses the pharmacists’ integral role in the safe use of medication.

In addition to APhA’s efforts to generate publicity through media outreach and community events, the organization encourages its members to engage with their communities to promote patient care services. This year’s priorities, as detailed on the APhA Web site, include:

• To recognize the vital contributions made by pharmacists to health care in the United States.
• To enhance the image of pharmacists as the medication experts and an integral part of the health care team, not just dispensers of medication.
• To educate the public, policy makers, pharmacists, and other health care professionals about the key role played by pharmacists in reducing overall health care costs by improved medication use and advanced patient care.
• To stress the importance of Knowing Your Medicine and Knowing Your Pharmacist to ensure drug therapy is as safe and effective as possible.

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