Operación Farmacia and the future of interpreting services in pharmacy
Lain Vitale is a final-year PharmD candidate at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and the 2024–2025 chair of the APhA–ASP National Policy Standing Committee. The author would like to acknowledge University of Houston (UH) College of Pharmacy second-year PharmD candidates Gabriela Gaytán and Rebeca Pelayo-Carvajal for their contributions to this article.
In a country where language barriers often hinder access to quality health care, the need for certified medical interpreting services has never been more urgent. APhA–ASP’s adopted resolution, 2024.3 Interpretation Services, supports policies that increase the utilization and quality of certified medical interpreters in health care settings to improve patient care and outcomes. At the forefront of this effort is Operación Farmacia, a student-led initiative at the UH College of Pharmacy designed to bridge the language gap and provide essential health care services to Spanish-speaking communities.
Born from a pressing need to improve health literacy and access to care, Operación Farmacia is the vision of chapter president Adriana Gonzalez Alejandro. Recognizing that more than 44% of Houston households have Hispanic or Latino origins, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, she spearheaded the creation of a local operation designed to serve this growing community. After extensive efforts at both the local and national levels, the initiative was officially approved, paving the way for student pharmacists to engage directly with Spanish-speaking patients.
Significant outreach efforts
The program’s mission is clear: enhance health literacy through multilingual workshops and outreach events. To ensure effective communication, all Operación Farmacia chairs are required to be fluent in Spanish. This requirement provides students with the ability to deliver culturally competent care while offering an opportunity for non-Spanish-speaking student pharmacists to learn and contribute.
Through its various outreach efforts, Operación Farmacia has already made a significant impact in underserved communities. The organization regularly participates in community outreach events like health fairs, providing vital screenings and patient education on topics like cardiovascular health, reproductive health, blood glucose and BP management, and vaccine safety. Their efforts prioritize low-income Hispanic populations, advocating for these communities to receive high-quality care despite language and economic barriers.
One of their most ambitious projects is their annual health fair in Edinburg, TX, in the Rio Grande Valley—an area with a significant Spanish-speaking population. On February 22, 2025, a team of student pharmacists traveled 6 hours to deliver critical health services, including smoking cessation counseling, diabetes education, cardiovascular health screenings, and cholesterol and BP monitoring. Their outreach extends beyond large-scale events though. Operación Farmacia also collaborates with local clinics, regularly hosting cardiovascular health workshops and reproductive health education sessions.
The need for proper interpretation services
The work of Operación Farmacia directly aligns with the goals of APhA–ASP Resolution 2024.3, which advocates for improved access to medical interpretation services. By conducting bilingual workshops and empowering student pharmacists to become culturally competent health care providers, Operación Farmacia is demonstrating exactly how we can lead the charge in improving health care accessibility.
“It’s one thing to know how to provide medical care, but it’s another to communicate it effectively,” said Gabriela Gaytán, a second-year PharmD candidate at UH and junior chair of Operación Farmacia. “Without proper interpretation services, we risk patients misunderstanding their treatment plans, which can lead to poor health outcomes.”
The resolution acknowledges the need for certified interpreters in health care settings. However, as Gaytán and her fellow junior chair, Rebeca Pelayo-Carvajal, point out, there are still significant barriers to implementing these services in pharmacies. Many pharmacies lack the funding or infrastructure to hire certified medical interpreters, leaving language barriers unaddressed and placing non-English speaking patients at risk.
For many student pharmacists, Operación Farmacia provides an invaluable opportunity to engage with diverse patient populations and improve their cultural competency. But what about students who don’t speak Spanish? Rebeca leads Spanish language workshops on campus, teaching important medical terminology to non-Spanish speakers so they too can contribute meaningfully to the initiative’s efforts.
More work to be done
While Operación Farmacia has already made remarkable strides in addressing language barriers, the work is far from over. Looking ahead, the organization hopes to expand its partnerships with local clinics, increase student involvement, and inspire other schools and colleges of pharmacy to implement similar initiatives.
On a broader scale, policy changes are necessary to ensure that interpreting services become a standardized component of pharmacy practice. Pharmacy organizations and schools must advocate for legislative reforms that support funding for certified medical interpreters and integrate language training into pharmacy education.
As APhA–ASP continues to champion Resolution 2024.3, Operación Farmacia stands as a shining example of student pharmacists taking proactive steps to improve health care accessibility. Their work highlights the vital role that student-led initiatives can play in shaping a more inclusive, patient-centered future for pharmacy practice.
By breaking language barriers, educating communities, and advocating for systemic change, these student pharmacists are not only improving patient care today, but also paving the way for a more equitable health care system in the future.