Pharmacy in Public Health

Pharmacy students educate the D.C. Metro area on the importance of medication adherence.

By Stephanie Southard
February 6, 2012

Members of the School of Pharmacy’s D.C. Metro Student Pharmacists Association joined more than 200 other exhibitors at the NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo Jan. 14 and 15 at the Washington Convention Center to provide the community with valuable medical and health information. Student pharmacists promoted the importance of medication adherence to many of the attendees at the event, which is the largest health and wellness event in the Southeast.

A variety of interactive displays and games decorated the School’s booth. Banners from the national Script Your Future medication adherence campaign drew people to the booth where students explained the importance of building relationships with pharmacists in order to improve individual health outcomes. More than 400 personal medication record cards, provided by the National Consumers League, were given to attendees as they pledged to take charge of their health and take their medications as prescribed.

Saul Krosnick, a first year student pharmacist at the University of Maryland who is based at the Shady Grove campus, says, “Through the activities at our booth, I felt that I empowered people and gave them the courage to take responsibility for their health, become informed patients, and ask appropriate questions regarding their wellbeing.”

In addition, iPads displaying a “Choose Your Poison” game were on hand to grab the attention of kids and educate their parents about the dangers of confusing medication for candy. The importance of accurate medication dosing was stressed by student pharmacists from Shenandoah University, Ashburn as they provided a display and handouts on the recent changes in Tylenol dosing. This event highlighted the collaborative efforts of D.C. Metro Area pharmacy schools, including the University of Maryland, Shenandoah University, and Howard University, to educate the public on the dynamic role that pharmacists play in the promotion of personal health and wellness.

The D.C. Metro Student Pharmacists Association plans to sponsor an annual booth at the NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo. According to Krosnick, who speaks for most of this year’s student volunteers, “I can’t wait until next year’s Expo to participate again and use the additional knowledge that I will gain at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.”