There is often a gap between the laws taught in pharmacy schools and the legal knowledge you need to practice pharmacy. Along the way, it is very possible for great pharmacists to make mistakes and unknowingly break the law or not follow national guidelines for practice. In this post, we’ll look at important laws and guidelines that may not have been taught in your pharmacy school but that are essential for you in order to succeed as a practicing pharmacist.

Learning to navigate the complex processes of insurance companies is one of the biggest hurdles to gaining confidence as a new pharmacist, since even experienced pharmacists can have difficulty with insurance rejections and payments. This post will serve as a sort of crash-course guide to prescription drug insurance. You can find even more information on this subject via CE-PRN.

Society depends on licensed professionals for tasks that require specialized education and training. This includes doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, along with builders, educators, pilots, and many others. Licensing is a mechanism to ensure competency — and in most cases written exams are an important part of that process. A recent incident involving the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) has shaken the pharmacy community and called attention to the importance of exam integrity. It is imperative not only for test takers, but also for the general public’s health, that the integrity of exams like this one is maintained.

Doctors, nurses, physician associates, and other healthcare providers (HCPs) work hard to make sure their patients get the care they need, and that includes ensuring they receive their medications. Yet, despite their best efforts, too often patients walk away from the pharmacy counter without their prescriptions. In this post, we’ll look at all the ways you can help your patients navigate the costs of their prescription. We’ll also look at insurance and review patient assistance programs, free trials, copay cards, and other ways to help the underinsured as well as the uninsured.

Pharmacists play a critical (if often underappreciated) role in the public health of the country, providing a range of services beyond dispensing medication. While this hasn’t always been the case, pharmacy practice and education have continually evolved to meet the needs of the public. Pharmacy is not a stagnant profession, and it is up to the current generation of pharmacists to expand into new practice models. Let’s look at where pharmacy practice has been, its modern role in public health, and the impact it might have in the future.

From both my own personal experience and from talking to students on rotation, I have realized that a common gap in pharmacy education is helping students navigate the post-graduation world. Yes, we eventually do figure it out, but it is certainly more stressful than if we had had some guidance before leaving school. Here’s a road map to post-graduation life.

If you’re in school to become a healthcare professional — whether that’s a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, therapist, or otherwise — you are likely to get time off in the summer, even if you also have to complete a rotation. While your first inclination might be to work in a clinical setting similar to where you might work after graduation, there are many opportunities to do something unique and adventurous. It is also possible to get paid as much or more as you would have if you had worked in a clinical setting.

Healthcare is a calling, but there’s no doubt that most graduates of healthcare programs are interested in earning a substantial salary after graduation. As a matter of fact, the top 10 highest-paying jobs in the United States are in healthcare.

Community pharmacies are the ones that dispense medications to patients who are not hospitalized or in nursing facilities. I’ve always been interested in how community pharmacies operate in other countries because it gives us a chance to view our own system in a new light, exchange ideas, and find opportunities for improvement.

It costs a lot of money to become a doctor. According to recent statistics, the average medical school graduate owes an astonishing $241,600 in total student debt. This, combined with the fact that many graduates defer student loans during residency, means that doctors just entering practice face an uphill battle to pay off their debts, despite having high salaries.

For those of us who have trained for years to work in healthcare, the rigors of training likely haven’t left much time to consider our financial future. Yet this is a critical piece of post-graduation planning that is equally important as finding a job or choosing a specialty.

Mandatory reporting by healthcare professionals is often required by law. This course will assist you in recognizing suspected signs of abuse that require reporting, as well as developing a mandatory reporting system in your pharmacy practice. Upon successful completion of this course, learners should be able to: 1. Define mandatory reporting and reporting requirements 2. Describe mandatory reporting requirements within healthcare 3. Recognize the definitions and signs of occurrences or suspected occurrences that mandate reporting 4. Develop a mandatory reporting system in pharmacy practice

This Promoting Tobacco Cessation in the Community Pharmacy - 1 CE - Live Webinar on September 15, 2021 10AM ET

Social media has connected us in ways we could have never imagined. The explosive popularity of Facebook, founded less than 20 years ago in 2004, has transformed culture globally, and in fact many people use several social media platforms.

Although there are adequate supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, our vaccination rates are not nearly high enough to stop the pandemic. Until then, we’re at risk of surges in infection rates along with a higher possibility of new variants emerging. It is critical that we overcome the current vaccination plateau and work to increase vaccinations. In this post, we’ll look at ways we can overcome barriers to vaccinating the public.

In a recent post we talked about discussing the differences between brand and generic drugs with our patients. Perhaps equally important, but also less appreciated by many patients, is the difference between over-the-counter (OTC) medications and dietary supplements, which make up the majority of items stocked in pharmacies. In addition, they are often found next to each other on the shelves with similar labeling, making things even more confusing for patients.

In a recent post we talked about discussing the differences between brand and generic drugs with our patients. Perhaps equally important, but also less appreciated by many patients, is the difference between over-the-counter (OTC) medications and dietary supplements, which make up the majority of items stocked in pharmacies. In addition, they are often found next to each other on the shelves with similar labeling, making things even more confusing for patients. In this post, we’ll look at the d

The authority for pharmacy technicians to administer immunizations has come on fast. The first state to approve technician immunizations was Idaho in 2017, and other states have quickly followed suit. As pharmacists and also pharmacy technicians, we know that technician roles are expanding and technician-administered immunizations are here to stay. But most boards of pharmacy are not yet allowing technicians to independently administer vaccines.

Each week on “On a Mission” we talk to community leaders who are out to make a positive impact in the area. Today, our host Wendy Norfleet talks to Alex Evans from Ascension Health. Ascension Health is a non-profit health system committed to taking care of those in the communities who are most vulnerable and in need of healthcare.

Hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver, is most commonly caused by a virus, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that millions of Americans are living with viral hepatitis and most don’t know they are infected. The most common types of viral hepatitis are hepatitis A, B, and C; the CDC has created a great visual guide with the basics of each one.