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The Future Roles of the Practicing Pharmacist
the future roles of the practicing pharmacist by Edward P. Claus* he late Charles F. Kettering who was vice president of General Motors Corporation, once said-"We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there." I am s1.1,re you will agree with me that this wise comment deserves our thoughtful consideration. What we hope to accomplish in our profession, what we plan for our immediate and long-range objectives, what we expect to become as practitioriers of pharmacy-all of these factors are depepdent on the future. It is almost impossible today to glance through a pharmaceutical journal and not find some refererice to the future of pharmacy f}nd phannacists. Phrases such as "therapeutic advisor," "drug expert," "professional consultant" and "clinical pharmacy" are commonlyencountered. The trend of these phrases is indicative of the future roles to be undertaken by practicing pharmacists. However, before deciding on a new route and before taking an un~nown path, it is usually considered advisable to carefully examine the roads we have travelled ~nd to evaluate ~Hir progress toward future aims arid goals. Analyzing past experiences and present status often results in a cleal'er view of new horizons. In simpi~r words, we should contemplate where we have been where we are and. where we are going~ George P. ,Hager stated in 1965, just after he was elected president of the American Association of Colleges of Phai'macy-
T
The pharmaceutical educator is faced with ' a dilemma. A majority of his students will be community pharma{! Presented at the APhA reconvened sessions in San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 13, 1968.
70
cists. Everyone believes that he knows what a community pharmacist is. The educator must be constantly aware of what the community pharmacist ought to be.
A year later,in 1966, Dean Hager in his AACf presidential address saidMore and more, the modern pharmacist's most important service to society depends less on what he does and more on what he knows.
It is a matter of record that in 1945 the development of Benadryl was announced by Parke, Davis and Company as the first antihistamine drug to be released on the commerci~l market. A relatively shod time before, the introduct~on of penicillin had been made available for , use by the general medical practitioner. These historic events took; place less than 25 years ago. Think of the tremendous ch~nges in the prescribing habits of physicians and in the dispensing practices of pharmacists that have been effected in the last 20 years! Benadryl was followed in a short time by pyribenzamine and other antihistamines just as penicillin therapy was supplemented first by streptomycin and then by chloramphenicol, tetracycline and numerous other broadspectrum antibiotics. Twenty years ago, the adrenocorticoid drugs such as prednisone, cortisone anp hydro~6rti sone had not yet heen prepared for clinical trial. Tranquilizers and antihypertensive agents as well as hallucinogeriic dru'gs and LSD were relatively unknown. Duplicity and multiplicity of products was just beginning, particularly with the dozen$ of penicillin preparations on the market. Is it any wonder that the physician began to b e overwhelmed in trying to obtain
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
an unbiased opinion of the efficacy of certain products? To whom could he turn for unbiased assistance? To whom but th~ pharmacist? W as it unusual that the pharmacist began to be looked upon more than ever as the "drug exped?" Thus, pharmaceu tical education began to emphasize trademarked products in the early 1950's and stqdents in colleges of pharmacy began to be educated as "professional consultants." During the late 1950' s and the early 1960's, pharmacy students were taught that a part of their professional responsibilities included information apout prescription products-specifica11y trademarked names, dosage forms and manufacturer's names~ as well as comparisons of formulas, solubilities and incompatibilities , These factors as well as the structureactivity relationships petween chemical constitution and ph;:ttmacological activity con~tituted much of the subject matter for which students were responsible a few years ago. This, then, was the beginning of an era that n ow stresses what the pharmacist knows rather than what he does. Nevertheless, although our pharmacy graduqtes were beiQg taught a greatly improved course in dispel1sing pharmacy on one hand and an integrated cour$e in organic medicin als and pharmacology on the other, they wei'e given little' opportunity to practice what they learned. More and more, prescript~ons were "counted" and "poured;" more and more, pharmacists retired to their prescription rooms and l~ft the personal contact with their patrons to the discretion ( or indisctetion) of nonprofessional help. Thus, although pharmacists were d ispensing many more prescription or-
ders, they actually were providing less opportunity for their patrons to obtain needed pharmaceutical advice. No wonder that with the increasing costs of newer therapeutic agents, the general public began to protest the high price of prescriptions!
Edward P. Claus, dean and professor of pharmacognosy at Ferris State College school of pharmacy since 1957, has been in the education field since 1929 when he began teaching at the University of Pittsburgh school of pharmacy. He has also taught at the University of Puerto Rico and University of Illinois schools of pharmacy. A registered pharmacist in Pennsylvania and Michigan, Claus is a member of APhA, Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences, AAAS, an honorary life member of Michigan State Pharmaceutical Association and was president and on the executive committee of AACP. He is co-author of the fifth edition of Pharmacognosy and has written numerous scientific and educational articles.
services to outpatients
Linwood F. Tice presented his thoughts on "Outpatient Pharmacy Services" before the Task Force on Prescription Drugs in Washington, D.C., on July 31, 1967. He cited this example of the manner in which a pharmacist could render significant pharmaceutical serviceLet us start with a sick person who visits the physician. Some experts estimate that fully 50 percent of ill persons suffer from diseases of psychosomatic origin. Even those diseases which are strictly organic in ~ature .are accompanied by emotional distress. Most patients need and would like to spend far more time talking with their physician than his extre~ely busy schedule will permit. . It IS not surprising that many patients are nervous and confused and often miSinterpret the directions given them. If the medication prescri?~d is to be used properly, some additIOnal professional guidance is -o ften needed. Physicians, too, being human, have some potential for error. Many drug names sound alike, doses vary and mechanical errors can happen. Experienced physicians are happy to know that their prescription orders will be scrutinized carefully ?y a competent pharmacist, providIng still another professional judgment made by someone who also knows the patient. In many cases, the pharmacist knows him even better for he sees him more often and lives in the same community. The patient himself is more relaxed in the environment of a pharmacy than in a physician's office and often volunteers information or asks questions which he forgot or hesitated to ask in the physician's presence.
Dean Tice then goes on to explain how the pharmacist can prevent the patient from securing drugs that are physiologically antagonistic. He cautions pharmacists about the importance of knowing the reactions produced by o-t-c medicines-allergic reactions, symptoms of overdosage and therapeutic incompatibilities. He sums up his thoughts with this observationPrescription drugs are not simple commodities to be bought and sold as other consumer items. They require professional supervision which only the trained pharmacist can give.
James L. Goddard, MD, at the 1967 University of Michigan-annual pharmacy lecture program at Ann Arbor, stated-
As a physician, I see the pharmacist as a professional resource person whose full potential is not being realized at the present time. . . There is a greater need for the drug specialist today than ever before. And I strongly believe that the modern practice of medicine demands greater utilization of the knowledge and skills which only the pharmacist can offer.
Goddard concluded with these remarksThe pharmacist has this incentive ... his professional commitment to protect the health needs of his community. I am confident that pharmacists will fully explore the potential that the future holds in carrying out this commitment to the public welfare.
time to start now
How can we cope with these new concepts of the practice of pharmacy? What can we do to fulfill the expectations of these leaders of our profession? Where do we begin and, most important, when? I think you will agree that the time to start is now. We can begin by upgrading our professional knowledge through attendance at annual meetings of professional organizations. We can return to the classroom when the pharm1acy college offers a course of advanced study or a program in continuing education in pharmacy. We also can consider objectively the manner in which we render service to our patrons in the community pharmacy. We have much more than a product to sell or a therapeutic agent to dispense. The manner in which we approach the customer with the finished prescription medication can produce reassurance in a worried mother or -c an develop a feeling of comfort in a person who is in need of advice. It is this type of professional service that is responsible for the new con-
cept of dispensing pharmacy. Today, the term "clinical pharmacy" is being adopted by many colleges of pharmacy as the name to be applied to the final course in the pharmacy area of the curriculum. An analysis of the words "clinical pharmacy" throws light on what educators are attempting to accomplish in their modernized instructional program today. The term "clinical" means "occupied with investigation of disease in the living subject by observation." Pharmacy may be defined as "the la rt or practice of preparing and preserving drugs, and of compounding and dispensing medicines." Thus, "clinical pharmacy" in its broadest sense would refer to "instruction of a pharmacy class in the selection and preparation of medicines for the treatment of diseased conditions at the patient's bedside." If we accept this definition of "clinical pharmacy," the pharmacist will indeed become a "therapeut~~ advisor" and "professional consultant. Of course, we can immediately understand how this concept would apply to a hospital pharmacist. But how can the community practitioner fulfill his obligation to become a therapeutic adviser? If the patient is ambulatory and is able to visit the community pharmacy for his medication, his "bedside" then becomes the prescription counter. The pharmacist should warn a patron that a nose drop preparation containing ephedrine should not be used when his prescription order calls for an antihypertensive agent. A patron buying insulin should be informed by the pharmacist that the expectorant he wishes to buy contains a concentrated sugar solution as a base. The pharmacist should be aware that an antispasmodic containing belladonna alkaloids should not be used by a patient suffering from glaucoma. It is in this way that the pharmacist
vor.
NS9, No.2, February 1969
71
makes full use of his knowledge and becomes a professional consultant to his customers. APhA Executive Director William S. Apple, in his 1967 Kremers Memorial Lecture saidI would like to see pharmacists of the future better prepared and motivated to communicate with other heatth professionals and patients. Too often today we find pharmaCists possessing information of critical importance but reluctant to communicate it. They either assume that someone else on the health team is already aware of it or that pointing it out will be labeled as trespassing. The time for pharmacists to develop the art of communicating as part of the health team is while they are students. I am sure that if medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy students have more classroom and laboratory contact, they wit! develop a better understanding and appreciation of how they can work together more effectively as practitioners.
One of the very best ways you can. get a new baby started in life is by buying him or her a U.S. Savings Bond. And once you're started, keep on with it. As the baby grows, the Bonds you keep buying will grow, too. When the baby is ready for college, the Bonds will be ready to help pay for college.
NOW -
Higher Rates!
Savings Bonds now pay 4.25% when held to maturity - and Freedom Shares (sold in combination with E Bonds,. pay a full 5 %. The extra interest will be added as a bonus at maturity. And now you can buy the Bondi Freedom Share combination any time - no monthly commitment necessary. Get the facts where you work or bank.
\i.:vings
Bonds, .
new Freedom Shares •
The U.S. Government does not pay for this <-R"S aqver.tisement. If is p,:esented as a public ser- ?~ vIce In cooperatIon WIth the Treasury Depart. ~ ment and The Advertising Council. "ou"c.'V
72
Here then is where we must begin. Our pharmacy faculties and administrators have a challenge laid before them. They must offer the kind of pharmaceutical ,e ducation to produce graduates who are knowledgeable in their field, who can communicate with their fellow professionals on the health team and who must be more concerned with rendering a service than with selling products. They must adopt the policy that their personal advice has meaning for their patrons. They must meet their public personally and not relinquish that opportunity to subprofessionals or nonprofessionals. If a professional fee is the basis for a preseription charge, then professional service must be offered. Answers to questions concerning con traindica tions, possible side effects, allergic implications, medication taken before, during or after meals and possible effects of overdosage are within the scope of the pharmacist's knowledge. Nonprofessionals at the prescription counter are not capable of responding to these queries. No one should blame the customer who objects to being charged a professional fee when he may not even get a glimpse of the professional! Dan Rennick, editor of the American Druggist, concludes his March 11, 1968, editorial with this statement-
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
in expanding medical care service. Every pharmacist certainly recognizes that many of his colleagues (and often he himself) do not spend the rna jority of their time performing purely professional duties. Yet this p~ase of his practice represents the reason why he spent his years of study in the college of pharmacy classrooms. Why, then, does he not begin to assume his right. ful place in his profession? If we as pharmacists do not change our manner of thinking, we may find that someone may change it for us. If we in our own practice in com· munity pharmacies, in pharmaceutical centers, or even in supermarket opera· tions, cannot or will not begin to emphasize our professional roles, we may :find that no professional opportunities may be left. If we are to become "therapeutic advisers," we must begin to talk with our patrons and offer the advice that is presently wanted but not asked of nonprofessional employees. If we are to become "drug experts," we must let the members of the public health team-the physician, the dentist, the nurse and the public health worker-know that we are knowledgeable in our field, that we are willing to cooperate and that we intend to become worthy of being called a professional. Authorities in the :fields of professional organizations, pharmaceutical education, governmental administra· tion and pharmaceutical journalism cannot all be wrong. They foresee new roles in the future for the practicing pharmacist. Now is the time to begin preparing for those new responsibilities. Now is our chance to render personalized service to our pa trons. Now is our opportunity to become a true member of the health care team and to uplift pharmacy to new heights of professionalism . •
community heaith care (continued from pttge 69) back. To have this sort of event happen almost as one is studying it was an exciting experience. It appears to be the beginning of an earnest attempt by the profession to broaden its outlook, to become better acquainted with this entity called community and to ''become involved." It may be a big step for pharmacy and some trauma will be associated with it. I feel that it is the right step, nevertheless, and may well reap rewards that none can really envision at this time. • references 1. Resolution, American Association of Colleges
ef Pharmacy annual meeting, MaFch 1985, Amer. J. of Pharm. Educ., 29, 401( 1965) 2. "Public Health ill the Curricula of Colleges of Pharmacy," Americaa Ass@ciation of Col· leges of Pharmacy, 3 (1965)
T
The pharmaceutical educator is faced with ' a dilemma. A majority of his students will be community pharma{! Presented at the APhA reconvened sessions in San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 13, 1968.
70
cists. Everyone believes that he knows what a community pharmacist is. The educator must be constantly aware of what the community pharmacist ought to be.
A year later,in 1966, Dean Hager in his AACf presidential address saidMore and more, the modern pharmacist's most important service to society depends less on what he does and more on what he knows.
It is a matter of record that in 1945 the development of Benadryl was announced by Parke, Davis and Company as the first antihistamine drug to be released on the commerci~l market. A relatively shod time before, the introduct~on of penicillin had been made available for , use by the general medical practitioner. These historic events took; place less than 25 years ago. Think of the tremendous ch~nges in the prescribing habits of physicians and in the dispensing practices of pharmacists that have been effected in the last 20 years! Benadryl was followed in a short time by pyribenzamine and other antihistamines just as penicillin therapy was supplemented first by streptomycin and then by chloramphenicol, tetracycline and numerous other broadspectrum antibiotics. Twenty years ago, the adrenocorticoid drugs such as prednisone, cortisone anp hydro~6rti sone had not yet heen prepared for clinical trial. Tranquilizers and antihypertensive agents as well as hallucinogeriic dru'gs and LSD were relatively unknown. Duplicity and multiplicity of products was just beginning, particularly with the dozen$ of penicillin preparations on the market. Is it any wonder that the physician began to b e overwhelmed in trying to obtain
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
an unbiased opinion of the efficacy of certain products? To whom could he turn for unbiased assistance? To whom but th~ pharmacist? W as it unusual that the pharmacist began to be looked upon more than ever as the "drug exped?" Thus, pharmaceu tical education began to emphasize trademarked products in the early 1950's and stqdents in colleges of pharmacy began to be educated as "professional consultants." During the late 1950' s and the early 1960's, pharmacy students were taught that a part of their professional responsibilities included information apout prescription products-specifica11y trademarked names, dosage forms and manufacturer's names~ as well as comparisons of formulas, solubilities and incompatibilities , These factors as well as the structureactivity relationships petween chemical constitution and ph;:ttmacological activity con~tituted much of the subject matter for which students were responsible a few years ago. This, then, was the beginning of an era that n ow stresses what the pharmacist knows rather than what he does. Nevertheless, although our pharmacy graduqtes were beiQg taught a greatly improved course in dispel1sing pharmacy on one hand and an integrated cour$e in organic medicin als and pharmacology on the other, they wei'e given little' opportunity to practice what they learned. More and more, prescript~ons were "counted" and "poured;" more and more, pharmacists retired to their prescription rooms and l~ft the personal contact with their patrons to the discretion ( or indisctetion) of nonprofessional help. Thus, although pharmacists were d ispensing many more prescription or-
ders, they actually were providing less opportunity for their patrons to obtain needed pharmaceutical advice. No wonder that with the increasing costs of newer therapeutic agents, the general public began to protest the high price of prescriptions!
Edward P. Claus, dean and professor of pharmacognosy at Ferris State College school of pharmacy since 1957, has been in the education field since 1929 when he began teaching at the University of Pittsburgh school of pharmacy. He has also taught at the University of Puerto Rico and University of Illinois schools of pharmacy. A registered pharmacist in Pennsylvania and Michigan, Claus is a member of APhA, Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences, AAAS, an honorary life member of Michigan State Pharmaceutical Association and was president and on the executive committee of AACP. He is co-author of the fifth edition of Pharmacognosy and has written numerous scientific and educational articles.
services to outpatients
Linwood F. Tice presented his thoughts on "Outpatient Pharmacy Services" before the Task Force on Prescription Drugs in Washington, D.C., on July 31, 1967. He cited this example of the manner in which a pharmacist could render significant pharmaceutical serviceLet us start with a sick person who visits the physician. Some experts estimate that fully 50 percent of ill persons suffer from diseases of psychosomatic origin. Even those diseases which are strictly organic in ~ature .are accompanied by emotional distress. Most patients need and would like to spend far more time talking with their physician than his extre~ely busy schedule will permit. . It IS not surprising that many patients are nervous and confused and often miSinterpret the directions given them. If the medication prescri?~d is to be used properly, some additIOnal professional guidance is -o ften needed. Physicians, too, being human, have some potential for error. Many drug names sound alike, doses vary and mechanical errors can happen. Experienced physicians are happy to know that their prescription orders will be scrutinized carefully ?y a competent pharmacist, providIng still another professional judgment made by someone who also knows the patient. In many cases, the pharmacist knows him even better for he sees him more often and lives in the same community. The patient himself is more relaxed in the environment of a pharmacy than in a physician's office and often volunteers information or asks questions which he forgot or hesitated to ask in the physician's presence.
Dean Tice then goes on to explain how the pharmacist can prevent the patient from securing drugs that are physiologically antagonistic. He cautions pharmacists about the importance of knowing the reactions produced by o-t-c medicines-allergic reactions, symptoms of overdosage and therapeutic incompatibilities. He sums up his thoughts with this observationPrescription drugs are not simple commodities to be bought and sold as other consumer items. They require professional supervision which only the trained pharmacist can give.
James L. Goddard, MD, at the 1967 University of Michigan-annual pharmacy lecture program at Ann Arbor, stated-
As a physician, I see the pharmacist as a professional resource person whose full potential is not being realized at the present time. . . There is a greater need for the drug specialist today than ever before. And I strongly believe that the modern practice of medicine demands greater utilization of the knowledge and skills which only the pharmacist can offer.
Goddard concluded with these remarksThe pharmacist has this incentive ... his professional commitment to protect the health needs of his community. I am confident that pharmacists will fully explore the potential that the future holds in carrying out this commitment to the public welfare.
time to start now
How can we cope with these new concepts of the practice of pharmacy? What can we do to fulfill the expectations of these leaders of our profession? Where do we begin and, most important, when? I think you will agree that the time to start is now. We can begin by upgrading our professional knowledge through attendance at annual meetings of professional organizations. We can return to the classroom when the pharm1acy college offers a course of advanced study or a program in continuing education in pharmacy. We also can consider objectively the manner in which we render service to our patrons in the community pharmacy. We have much more than a product to sell or a therapeutic agent to dispense. The manner in which we approach the customer with the finished prescription medication can produce reassurance in a worried mother or -c an develop a feeling of comfort in a person who is in need of advice. It is this type of professional service that is responsible for the new con-
cept of dispensing pharmacy. Today, the term "clinical pharmacy" is being adopted by many colleges of pharmacy as the name to be applied to the final course in the pharmacy area of the curriculum. An analysis of the words "clinical pharmacy" throws light on what educators are attempting to accomplish in their modernized instructional program today. The term "clinical" means "occupied with investigation of disease in the living subject by observation." Pharmacy may be defined as "the la rt or practice of preparing and preserving drugs, and of compounding and dispensing medicines." Thus, "clinical pharmacy" in its broadest sense would refer to "instruction of a pharmacy class in the selection and preparation of medicines for the treatment of diseased conditions at the patient's bedside." If we accept this definition of "clinical pharmacy," the pharmacist will indeed become a "therapeut~~ advisor" and "professional consultant. Of course, we can immediately understand how this concept would apply to a hospital pharmacist. But how can the community practitioner fulfill his obligation to become a therapeutic adviser? If the patient is ambulatory and is able to visit the community pharmacy for his medication, his "bedside" then becomes the prescription counter. The pharmacist should warn a patron that a nose drop preparation containing ephedrine should not be used when his prescription order calls for an antihypertensive agent. A patron buying insulin should be informed by the pharmacist that the expectorant he wishes to buy contains a concentrated sugar solution as a base. The pharmacist should be aware that an antispasmodic containing belladonna alkaloids should not be used by a patient suffering from glaucoma. It is in this way that the pharmacist
vor.
NS9, No.2, February 1969
71
makes full use of his knowledge and becomes a professional consultant to his customers. APhA Executive Director William S. Apple, in his 1967 Kremers Memorial Lecture saidI would like to see pharmacists of the future better prepared and motivated to communicate with other heatth professionals and patients. Too often today we find pharmaCists possessing information of critical importance but reluctant to communicate it. They either assume that someone else on the health team is already aware of it or that pointing it out will be labeled as trespassing. The time for pharmacists to develop the art of communicating as part of the health team is while they are students. I am sure that if medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy students have more classroom and laboratory contact, they wit! develop a better understanding and appreciation of how they can work together more effectively as practitioners.
One of the very best ways you can. get a new baby started in life is by buying him or her a U.S. Savings Bond. And once you're started, keep on with it. As the baby grows, the Bonds you keep buying will grow, too. When the baby is ready for college, the Bonds will be ready to help pay for college.
NOW -
Higher Rates!
Savings Bonds now pay 4.25% when held to maturity - and Freedom Shares (sold in combination with E Bonds,. pay a full 5 %. The extra interest will be added as a bonus at maturity. And now you can buy the Bondi Freedom Share combination any time - no monthly commitment necessary. Get the facts where you work or bank.
\i.:vings
Bonds, .
new Freedom Shares •
The U.S. Government does not pay for this <-R"S aqver.tisement. If is p,:esented as a public ser- ?~ vIce In cooperatIon WIth the Treasury Depart. ~ ment and The Advertising Council. "ou"c.'V
72
Here then is where we must begin. Our pharmacy faculties and administrators have a challenge laid before them. They must offer the kind of pharmaceutical ,e ducation to produce graduates who are knowledgeable in their field, who can communicate with their fellow professionals on the health team and who must be more concerned with rendering a service than with selling products. They must adopt the policy that their personal advice has meaning for their patrons. They must meet their public personally and not relinquish that opportunity to subprofessionals or nonprofessionals. If a professional fee is the basis for a preseription charge, then professional service must be offered. Answers to questions concerning con traindica tions, possible side effects, allergic implications, medication taken before, during or after meals and possible effects of overdosage are within the scope of the pharmacist's knowledge. Nonprofessionals at the prescription counter are not capable of responding to these queries. No one should blame the customer who objects to being charged a professional fee when he may not even get a glimpse of the professional! Dan Rennick, editor of the American Druggist, concludes his March 11, 1968, editorial with this statement-
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
in expanding medical care service. Every pharmacist certainly recognizes that many of his colleagues (and often he himself) do not spend the rna jority of their time performing purely professional duties. Yet this p~ase of his practice represents the reason why he spent his years of study in the college of pharmacy classrooms. Why, then, does he not begin to assume his right. ful place in his profession? If we as pharmacists do not change our manner of thinking, we may find that someone may change it for us. If we in our own practice in com· munity pharmacies, in pharmaceutical centers, or even in supermarket opera· tions, cannot or will not begin to emphasize our professional roles, we may :find that no professional opportunities may be left. If we are to become "therapeutic advisers," we must begin to talk with our patrons and offer the advice that is presently wanted but not asked of nonprofessional employees. If we are to become "drug experts," we must let the members of the public health team-the physician, the dentist, the nurse and the public health worker-know that we are knowledgeable in our field, that we are willing to cooperate and that we intend to become worthy of being called a professional. Authorities in the :fields of professional organizations, pharmaceutical education, governmental administra· tion and pharmaceutical journalism cannot all be wrong. They foresee new roles in the future for the practicing pharmacist. Now is the time to begin preparing for those new responsibilities. Now is our chance to render personalized service to our pa trons. Now is our opportunity to become a true member of the health care team and to uplift pharmacy to new heights of professionalism . •
community heaith care (continued from pttge 69) back. To have this sort of event happen almost as one is studying it was an exciting experience. It appears to be the beginning of an earnest attempt by the profession to broaden its outlook, to become better acquainted with this entity called community and to ''become involved." It may be a big step for pharmacy and some trauma will be associated with it. I feel that it is the right step, nevertheless, and may well reap rewards that none can really envision at this time. • references 1. Resolution, American Association of Colleges
ef Pharmacy annual meeting, MaFch 1985, Amer. J. of Pharm. Educ., 29, 401( 1965) 2. "Public Health ill the Curricula of Colleges of Pharmacy," Americaa Ass@ciation of Col· leges of Pharmacy, 3 (1965)