Community pharmacies are those that dispense medications to patients who are not hospitalized or in nursing facilities, and this series explores how community pharmacy practice differs around the world. This gives us the opportunity to view the American pharmacy system in a new light and potentially find opportunities for improvement. So far, we have looked at Japan’s pharmacy system as well as that of Finland. In this post, we’ll look at one of the most-studied healthcare systems from an American perspective: Australia’s.

The history of U.S. pharmacy is as fascinating as that of any other facet of medicine. Let’s look back a few centuries and find our way to the modern era.

Medication adherence is often defined as a patient taking at least 80% of their medications for most diseases. For patients with a chronic disease, like diabetes, adherence rates hover around 50% to 60%. Unfortunately, for some diseases, even 80% adherence might not be enough. Older HIV antiretrovirals, for example, required adherence rates at or above 95%. In the U.S., medication nonadherence has been estimated to lead to 125,000 avoidable deaths and $100 billion in avoidable healthcare costs annually. We’ll look at some of the most common barriers to adherence and offer tips to overcome them, pulling from outside sources and from my own experience as a practicing pharmacist.

Adventure-seeking healthcare professionals looking for the chance to live overseas might initially assume that the primary path to doing so is by obtaining their professional licensure in another country. While this can be a great path, it can also be difficult, especially if the country’s main language is not your native tongue.

Community pharmacies are those that dispense medications to patients who aren’t hospitalized or in nursing facilities. This series explores how community pharmacy practice differs around the world. In doing so, it gives us the opportunity to view our own system in a new light and potentially find opportunities for improvement. In the first post of this series, we looked at community pharmacy practice in Japan.

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.

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