Since pharmacy
students and preceptors joined the institute in the fall of 2015, it seemed
appropriate to have January’s monthly seminar focus on the role of clinical pharmacists
in the primary care setting. Dr. Scott Bragg, clinical pharmacist with the
Trident/MUSC Family Medicine Residency and assistant professor of Clinical
Pharmacy and Outcome Sciences at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy, was
the speaker. Dr. Bragg brought with him Cristin Adams, DO, a current family
medicine resident who was spending the month with him on a pharmacotherapy
rotation. Another guest in the audience was Cecily DiPiro, PharmD, who was a
certified diabetes educator for the Diabetes Ten City Challenge while she was
practicing at the Prescription Center Pharmacy near Charleston.
Dr. Deborah
Carson, the South Carolina AHEC Associate Program Director for Education and a
retired clinical pharmacy faculty member, set the stage by providing a brief
history of the changes in pharmacy education and practice that have led to the
practice of clinical pharmacy. Dr. Bragg explained that clinical pharmacy
requires a fundamental interprofessional collaborative component and is primarily
patient-oriented, rather that product-oriented. He identified typical roles
that a clinical pharmacist has in a primary care setting and provided an
overview of current opportunities and challenges facing clinical pharmacists.
The group discussed possible ways to interface with pharmacists in their
communities once they begin their healthcare careers. Dr. DiPiro shared
examples of how her work with the Ten City Challenge, an initiative where
pharmacists met with participants to manage their diabetes and demonstrated improved
standards of diabetes care and reduced healthcare expenditures, led to positive
patient outcomes. Dr. Adams described how much she enjoys collaborating with
clinical pharmacists in her residency and getting further training in
medication management.
Student
evaluations clearly showed that they enjoyed the session and came away with a
new understanding of the role of a clinical pharmacist. Future sessions will include information on
population health and value-based care.