In our community pharmacy practice series, we’ve looked at numerous countries across the globe to uncover a set of best practices and fresh ideas that could be implemented in the U.S. Here, we’ll look at methods employed by Australia, England, Portugal, and Finland to reduce costs and improve the quality of healthcare in their country.

Water is a precious resource that is often taken for granted. Most people in the U.S. are able to turn on a sink and get all of the hot or cold water they want at a very low cost. Globally, however, there are more than 770 million people who lack access to safe drinking water. And there are many others who spend so much time collecting water that they’re prevented from raising their standard of living. For children, who are often responsible for this task, that means not being able to attend school or pursue higher education. Growing water scarcity makes this issue even more pressing. But healthcare facilities, as large water users, are in a position to contribute to positive change.

There are currently four COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S.: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Janssen (by Johnson & Johnson), and Novavax. Healthcare providers, or HCPs, are the main driver of the massive effort to distribute COVID-19 vaccinations. So it’s important for them to understand the possible side effects, allergic reactions, and anaphylactic reactions that patients may experience.

Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) is an oral medication that was authorized by the FDA on December 22, 2021 to treat mild to moderate COVID-19. Prescribing authority for the Paxlovid was recently expanded to pharmacists to help COVID-19 patients receive treatment faster and to make the medication more accessible.

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. So far, we’ve explored the practice of pharmacy in Japan, Finland, Australia, Switzerland, England, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Malawi, Argentina, and Portugal, and Egypt. In this post, we’ll look at community pharmacy practice in Pakistan.

In a now-famous interview, University of Chicago Professor Harold Pollack made a passing comment that all the financial advice you need can fit onto an index card. He later wrote out that index card and it became the foundation for a book about his index card titled “The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated.” Regardless of your income or job, it offers great tips for gaining control over your finances. Here, we’ll look at those nine tips and how healthcare professionals can apply them to their personal finances.

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. So far, we’ve explored the practice of pharmacy in Japan, Finland, Australia, Switzerland, England, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Malawi, Argentina, and Portugal. In this post, we’ll look at community pharmacy practice in Egypt.

Pharmacists are a valuable and integral part of the healthcare system. One study found that patients see their pharmacists more often than any other healthcare provider, perhaps because pharmacists tend to be more accessible or because patients need to pick up their medications every 30 or 90 days. Pharmacists are healthcare providers. They are trained to be the drug experts. But their role has gradually evolved to include more direct patient care activities. However, their ability to prescribe is still limited.

Community pharmacies dispense medications to patients who aren’t hospitalized or in nursing facilities. This series explores how community pharmacy practice differs around the world. It gives us the opportunity to view our own system in a new light and potentially find opportunities for improvement. So far, we’ve explored community pharmacies in Japan, Finland, Australia, Switzerland, England, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Malawi, and Argentina. In this post, we’ll look at community pharmacy practice in Portugal.

It’s no secret that healthcare as a whole is a lucrative field. In fact, out of the 30 highest-paying jobs in America, many are in the healthcare field, and the pay can be much higher within medicine. Physician salaries vary widely by specialty. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, family practice physicians, for example, earn $244,420 per year, surgeons earn $326,380 per year, and anesthesiologists earn $349,590 per year. According to the same data, pharmacists earn an annual average of $125,000, nurse practitioners and physician assistants earn around $120,000, and registered nurses earn around $83,000.

For healthcare providers looking to increase their income, there are a lot of options out there, one of which is in investments. While traditional financial goals — like saving for retirement, paying off student loans, and saving for a child’s college — should typically come first, alternative investments can lead to very high returns. It’s important to understand that all investments come with risk, and investing in more volatile alternative assets comes with a much higher risk than traditional investments. For that reason, it’s important to set a budget and stick to it.

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 allows us to view our own system in a new light and find possible opportunities for improvement. So far, we’ve explored the practice of pharmacy in Japan, Finland, Australia, Switzerland, England, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Malawi. In this post, we’ll look at our first country in South America: Argentina. To help us understand community pharmacy practice in Argentina, we interviewed Sonia Uema, a faculty member at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Along with her colleagues, she published a piece describing Argentina’s pharmacy system that you can read here.

Dallas Smith, PharmD, is a pharmacist and public health professional. He is dedicated to service, especially in resource-limited areas, and now plays a crucial role in understanding and containing outbreaks of infectious diseases. Here, we’ll look at how Dr. Smith combined his passion for public health and service with his pharmacy education to forge his own path while making a positive difference at home and abroad.

The Test to Treat initiative was launched in March 2022 in an effort to provide Americans with immediate access to COVID-19 treatments. It allows someone who tests positive for COVID-19 to receive treatment at select pharmacies, long-term care facilities, and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC). In response, the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Pharmacists Association (APhA) both issued statements taking a stance on the initiative. Here, we’ll look at the details of the Test to Treat program and also the opinions of the AMA and APhA.

After graduation, many healthcare professionals just starting out in developing financial literacy and planning their own finances might first think of saving for retirement, paying off student debt, or building up an emergency fund. Or, if you have kids, you might also think about saving for their college expenses. However, being insured against life’s many twists and turns is a critical component of financial planning and should be given just as high of a priority as any other financial goal. Here, we’ll look at insurance products to consider after graduating to protect you and your family.

Whether or not you would recommend a career in healthcare to your child, children of physicians are more likely to go to medical school than their peers. As recently as 2015, 1 of every 5 medical students had a parent who was a physician. And while the average student loan debt across all fields is around $38,000, healthcare professionals can rack up much more. Pharmacists had an average debt of $170,000 in 2019, while physicians had an average debt of $200,000 the same year. If you have high student debt yourself, you might find it hard to begin saving for your child’s education. So it’s important to find the best places to put that money and to start early, even if it’s just a small monthly contribution.

Community pharmacy has long been transitioning away from the traditional medication-dispensing-only model to provide non-dispensing services that can play a significant role in patient outcomes. The number of community pharmacies offering these non-dispensing services continues to grow, and, so, it’s a good idea for providers to understand how to take full advantage of a pharmacist’s education and training to help their patients receive the best care possible. Here, we’ll look at community pharmacy services that go beyond dispensing and how people can take full advantage of them.

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns. Since the 1800s, humans have contributed to climate change by burning fossil fuels and through activities that add greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. Climate change is expected to cause more severe droughts, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and warming oceans. It is also a health crisis that may lead to more death and disease. As healthcare providers, it is our responsibility to provide care. So we must act to lessen the consequences of climate change. Here, we’ll look at the impacts the healthcare industry has on climate change and explore ways we can reduce our impacts.

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 allows us to view our own system in a new light and find possible opportunities for improvement. So far, we’ve explored the practice of pharmacy in Japan, Finland, Australia, Switzerland, England, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran. In this post, we’ll look at our first country in Africa: Malawi.

Although medication cost is a common concern for patients, both patients and providers often find it difficult to discuss. According to the Cost Conversation projects, most patients are concerned about cost but many are waiting for their provider to start the conversation. However, most providers don’t routinely ask about cost. That’s a missed opportunity. Patients use different strategies to save money on their medications, including skipping doses or skipping medications altogether. In fact, medication nonadherence has been estimated to lead to 125,000 avoidable deaths annually.