Yasandra Morales Rodriguez is a final-year PharmD candidate at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy.
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) College of Pharmacy APhA–ASP Chapter was proud to receive the APhA–ASP Outstanding IPSF Activity Award at APhA2024 in Orlando. Our chapter takes great pride in one of its largest initiatives, which is our involvement with Clinica Esperanza, a student-led clinic that offers free medical care to uninsured Hispanic patients in the greater Memphis area.
Over the past year, our chapter has successfully integrated pharmacy services into the clinic, contributing to patient care and promoting interprofessional collaboration. The highlights of our involvement included a live demonstration of healthy cooking for Hispanic patients living with diabetes; developing and integrating medication reconciliation forms, patient education sessions, drug therapy optimization; and developing insulin patient information packets.
Promoting nutritional care
The healthy cooking demonstration leveraged a member’s unique culinary background and PharmD training to deliver education on nutritional care through food samples, educational sessions, recipe handouts, and even a how-to-video. By making nutritional care relevant to Latino patients living with diabetes, we have provided them with realistic tools to add to their toolbox in managing diabetes.
Patient-tailored care is a phrase that often loses its meaning in today’s busy health care world. However, it is something we strive for at UTHSC.
Easy-to-read medication list in Spanish
Our chapter members identified there was an increased amount of confusion among patients concerning their medication. We took the initiative to develop medication reconciliation sheets for both the patient and provider. The sheet for the patient is a medication list in Spanish with directions and counseling points for each medication. The sheet for the provider is a comprehensive list of the patient’s current drug therapy. By sharing these sheets, we have streamlined the patient interaction process and minimized miscommunication between patient and provider.
Providing patients with an easy-to-read medication list in their native language continues our mission to provide individualized care to our patients.
Collaborating with medical students
Furthermore, under the direct supervision of a pharmacist, we have implemented a consultant team of student pharmacists ready to help medical students select optimal drug therapy for each patient. Our services also included dosing and tapering recommendations, identifying drug therapy issues, and optimizing current therapies. By providing these services, our chapter is not only helping patients, but we are advocating for the profession.
What we do serves as a testament to the invaluable role of a pharmacist on the health care team and the medical students we collaborate with are witness to our value.
The chapter’s involvement with Clinica Esperanza underscores our commitment to patient-centered care and interprofessional collaboration. We hope to continue making significant advances in enhancing patient care at Clinica Esperanza.