Innovations in Patient Care: The UBC Pharmacists Clinic
When was the last time you got an hour with a healthcare professional?
If you take medications and have questions or concerns, keep reading.
In 2013, the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UBC opened the Pharmacists Clinic - Canada's first university-based, licensed, pharmacist-led, patient care clinic. The Pharmacists Clinic is not a typical pharmacy. It does not sell products or offer prescription-filling services. It is dedicated to making the clinical expertise of pharmacists available to meet the information and consultation needs of people taking medication. Located at the UBC Vancouver campus, the Pharmacists Clinic is tapped into the latest evidence, research and care models and focused on helping people get optimal drug therapy results.
The Clinic's pharmacists work in respectful collaboration with you, your physicians and your community-based pharmacist. Services are provided in-person or by telephone at no cost to you. The BC Ministry of Health (PharmaCare) pays the Clinic directly for some services and the Faculty funds the rest.
As a model of how pharmacists will practice in the future, the Pharmacists Clinic is also a teaching site for students and for pharmacists wanting to refresh their skills.
People who may benefit from an appointment at the Pharmacists Clinic are:
- Wanting answers to questions about medications, natural health products and supplements
- Taking multiple medications
- Living with more than one health condition
- Not getting the intended results from their medications
- Concerned about adverse reactions, allergies or drug sensitivities
- Having difficulty sorting out and taking their medications at home
- Concerned about advancing age, reduced liver or kidney function, or
- Recently discharged from hospital
Parkinson’s and the UBC Pharmacists Clinic
Mrs. B* lives in a rural area of B.C. with limited access to specialist care for her Parkinson’s disease. After trying to balance her medications on her own, including to combat dyskinesia which limited her enjoyment of the things she loved to do, she decided to contact the UBC Pharmacists Clinic.
Through telephone appointments with pharmacist and care practitioner Jillian, Mrs. B was able to create a plan for small changes to her levodopa/carbidopa dosing that fit into her daily routine. Although this is a work in progress, her dyskinesia has improved. She now also has a simple schedule for using acetaminophen to relieve muscle aches and pains, and as a result is able to restart a regular exercise routine. Throughout this process, her family doctor and local pharmacist have been kept informed on all recommendations and progress.
*Mrs. B’s name has been changed in this article to protect her privacy, however, the details of her story have been shared with her permission.
If you would like to book an appointment (either in-person or by telephone) for yourself or a loved one at the Pharmacists Clinic, please call 604-827-2584. More information on the Pharmacists Clinic and booking an appointment is available at: http://pharmsci.ubc.ca/pharmacists-clinic
This content was published in the Fall 2015 edition of our quarterly magazine, Viewpoints. The content was accurate as of this publication date.