While still fighting for official provider status, pharmacists have proven to be crucial in delivering care and helping address healthcare disparities.
COVID-19 has placed unprecedented demands on frontline healthcare workers. Over the past three years, pharmacists have demonstrated that they are vital to addressing pandemic-related issues and bringing care to their communities.
Students pose with Dr. Johnnie L. Early II, dean of the FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
“Pharmacy has become more diverse in terms of the different opportunities offered to graduates,” says Dr. Margareth Larose Pierre, founding campus dean, director, and professor at the Durell Peaden Jr. Pharmacy Education Center in Crestview, Florida. The center is affiliated with the Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
“We are more clinical, and the patients are more relying on our input in their health,” she continues. “One of the challenges we have is the fact that we’re still fighting to get provider status. Once we have provider status, the impact will be even greater.”
A provider is a licensed person or organization that provides healthcare services, and provider status would enable pharmacists to have more direct involvement in patient care in terms of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
