The PAM plan
Each March, Pharmacist Awareness Month (PAM) is celebrated across Canada to recognize and educate Canadians about the contributions that pharmacists make in the delivery of health care.
School of Pharmacy students, faculty and staff have planned a full calendar of events to spread awareness of expanding scope of pharmacy practice.
During PAM, the School will highlight major research initiatives which encompass the School檚 three focus areas research, teaching and learning and community engagement.
淭he history of pharmacy education in the province has changed over the past number of years, explained Dr. Lisa Bishop, interim dean. 淚n the past it focused more on dispensing and now the focus is more on patient care.
Teaching and learning reflected in the research is especially important.
淲e檝e modified our curriculum so the students are exposed to injections training, prescribing for minor ailments and other collaborative practice so that they檙e really prepared to practice in this ever-changing environment, Dr. Bishop said.
Two of the School檚 projects, the Deprescribing Program and the Smoking Cessation Program run out of the School檚 Medication Therapy Services (MTS) Clinic.
Drug misadventures
A new study in the School檚 Medication Therapy Services (MTS) Clinic will partner with Lawton檚 Nursing Home services and St. Patrick檚 Mercy Home Long Term Care Facility to provide in-depth medication reviews for residents. The focus is on identifying duplicate, unnecessary and potentially harmful medications.
淪leep aids, for example, are intended for short-term, intermittent use only, explained Dr. Debbie Kelly, principal investigator, MTS Clinic director and associate professor. 淥ver time, they lose their effectiveness and stop providing the relief they once did.
淥lder patients in particular are very susceptible to serious adverse effects such as confusion, delirium, and falls so it is necessary to revisit the need for these medications periodically and discontinue them when they are no longer necessary, Dr. Kelly continued.
Pharmacy students in their final semester will provide the medication reviews under the supervision of the pharmacist servicing the facility and clinical pharmacists in the clinic, and propose evidence-based, individualized plans to carefully and safely discontinue unnecessary and unsafe medications.
淲e educate our students to systematically assess each patient檚 medication regime for appropriateness, effectiveness and tolerability, said Dr. Kelly. 淭his is an important part of their final training before entering into practice.
Collaboration creates quitters
One in two smokers will die as a consequence of his or her smoking. Quitting smoking is the most important act a smoker will ever do to improve their health.
The Smoking Cessation Program (SCP), which operates out of the School of Pharmacy檚 Medication Therapy Services (MTS) Clinic, provides both counselling and quit medications and works with smokers to develop individualized quit plans. Dr. Leslie Phillips, associate dean of undergraduate studies, established the SCP in February of last year.
In addition to being an opportunity for pharmacists to demonstrate their expertise in this area and to make meaningful contributions to the health and wellbeing of our patients, the program offers a unique, collaborative teaching and learning experience for pharmacy students and psychiatry residents.
A research project titled, 淪tudent Learning in an Interprofessional Student-led Smoking Cessation Program was recently funded under 91亚色檚 Teaching and Learning Framework.
淲ritten journal reflections, audio-recorded interviews and conversational analysis of in-person clinic interactions will be the primary methods of data collection and analysis, said Dr. Phillips. 淭hese will be used to evaluate learning related to communication and collaboration between the students and residents, as well as with the patients.
A full roster of events
The third annual Pharmacy Research Day will run on Mar. 16 in the Health Sciences Centre foyer and Main Auditorium. The symposium includes a poster competition, Snappy Synopsis: Graduate Research in a Nutshell, and two guest speakers Dr. Jeremy Desai, President and CEO of Apotex and Dr. John Shacka of the University of Alabama-Birmingham. The schedule is available .
As usual, pharmacy student societies 91亚色 Pharmacy Students (MUPS) and Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns (CAPSI) have planned a full month of events, activities and presentations to spread awareness of the pharmacy profession to diverse groups within the city.
Highlights include:
- The Public Pill Drop Mar. 19, 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m., Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Headquarters
- Newfoundland and Labrador檚 Next Top Pharmacist competition Mar. 18, 7:00 p.m., The Breezeway
- Primary, elementary and high school presentations on drug awareness
- Delivering blood pressure testing to long term care facilities
Pharmacist Awareness Month officially kicks off on March 2 at the Holiday Inn with a reception hosted by the Pharmacists Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL). Second-year pharmacy student and MUPS-CAPSI junior representative Rachel Ward will be on-hand to test attendees blood pressure.
The month will conclude with a public open house at the James J. O橫ara Pharmacy Museum in Apothecary Hall, hosted by the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board. On March 26, members of the pharmacy community and the public can drop by the museum to see how the profession has evolved over the years. A visit to this restored heritage site, preserved by Newfoundland and Labrador pharmacists, is the perfect way to end Pharmacist Awareness Month and celebrate the history and the future of the profession.
A full calendar or events is available on the School of Pharmacy website. For updates and more on featured research projects throughout PAM, follow the School of Pharmacy on and using the hashtag #MUNPAM17, or sign up for the School檚 new e-newsletter,