S05 E04 Pharmacists - sleuthing and optimizing medications in primary care teams
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In this episode Sarah and Morgan explore the role of Pharmacists in Primary Care. Pharmacists provide a unique lens to care through their detective skills, patient education focus, and deep expertise on medications. We will hear from two Pharmacists about the scope of practice for primary care Pharmacists and the ways in which PCNs and clinical teams can best utilize their skills to care for complex, frail and elderly, and patients on complex drug therapies.

The key takeaways of this episode are:

• Pharmacists are impressive detectives who will be able to see opportunities for risk mitigation and enhanced patient care that you didn’t even realize were there!
• Pharmacists are incredibly patient-centered and they look holistically at the patient to ensure that the prescribed treatment is effective, safe, and meets the unique values of the patient.
• Co-locate your pharmacist! Those relationships are key and the more they can be part of the full clinical scope, the EMR, the team, the more opportunities there will be for them to use their full scope of practice on the team.

Guests:

A huge thank-you to all of our wonderful guests for this season! In this episode you heard from:

• Barbara Gobis (BSc(Pharm), RPh, ACPR, MScPhm, PCC): Barbara is the Program Lead, Pharmacists in Primary Care Network (PCN) Program and Director, Pharmacists Clinic, at UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Barbara has practiced for the past 30 years as a licensed pharmacist and joined the UBC Faculty of Pharmacy in 2013 to develop, establish and oversee the on-going success of UBC Pharm Sci's Pharmacists Clinic. She has also been instrumental in facilitating the integration of pharmacists in PCNs across BC.
• Sadie Quintal (BSc (Pharm), RPh, BCPS): Sadie is a Pharmacist in the the Comox Valley PCN. Sadie graduated from the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2010 and spent the next four years of her career as a Pharmacy Officer for the Canadian Forces. Working in Island Health since 2015, her varied roles have included ward-based clinical assignments, academic detailing, and temporary Pharmacy Site Coordinator.
• Carolyn Canfield: Carolyn is the ISU’s in house patient-disruptor and adjunct faculty member in the Department of Family Practice at UBC. Carolyn is very involved in the Department of Family Practice and shares her expertise by teaching medical residents about patient experience and engagement She is also engaged in a number of national and international research projects that range in focus from patient engagement in care, to system resilience, to patient safety.