Camille Addison and Katlyn Loper are third-year PharmD candidates at The University of Kansas School of Pharmacy.
JayDoc Free Clinic is an organization managed by University of Kansas (KU) medical students and student pharmacists that provides access to medical resources to underserved patients within the Kansas City community. Students of both professions work alongside each other—with guidance from licensed pharmacists and physicians—to triage, assess, and treat every patient with the best care possible.
Numerous roles
Pharmacy has a variety of responsibilities at the clinic, which allows student pharmacists to enhance their patient care skills while challenging them to be creative when choosing medication therapy for this unique patient population outside of a simulated setting.
Since the clinic has opened, student pharmacists who participated previously have developed a formulary of medications that are now available at the clinic to be donated to patients who are unable to afford or lack the transportation required to fill a prescription nearby before they leave. Currently, the prescription drug formulary includes 16 medications that are ordered, filled, and documented by the 2 pharmacy coordinators. The formulary is continually updated by student pharmacists as the clinic raises more funds and new agents become available as generics.
At the clinic, student pharmacists’ roles within the health care team include performing medication reconciliations, counseling patients on new medications while also allowing adequate time for questions, and providing a variety of vaccinations. Student pharmacists also teach the medical students how to vaccinate and reconstitute using the aseptic technique.
Vital care for the patients
Many patients at the clinic lack crucial resources such as prescription drug insurance, access to primary care physicians, or the means to miss work for a day to seek care. Pharmacists play an impactful role in helping them as medication experts by recommending alternatives that are available on the Walmart $4 list and GoodRx. The clinic is also open for patients to walk in after normal business hours, increasing these patients’ access to health care.
JayDoc has both general health nights as well as specialty nights at the clinic. Diabetes Night is one of the specialties that allows student pharmacists to be very hands-on with recommending the right medications and helping come up with insulin regimens based upon patient-specific characteristics.
Positive impact on the community
Acknowledgment of health disparity within one’s community has been taught in courses among numerous health professionals for years, but many lack the ability to act upon these issues in a way they view as impactful to the community. JayDoc provides student pharmacists an opportunity to provide care for underserved patients who need quality health care just as much as the patients they encounter every day while also improving their patient care skills. These students can improve upon these disparities as they progress as a health care professional.
For me (Camille), volunteering at the clinic is one of the best ways a student pharmacist can improve bedside manners and interprofessionalism, and expand their clinical knowledge in an impactful way.
One of the reasons why I (Katlyn) enjoy being a part of JayDoc as the student coordinator is the ability to positively impact the community being served by ensuring that patients get the best care possible. Working directly with medical students in the clinic setting allows us to use the knowledge we’ve gained in school and apply it to the real world, and as future practitioners that allows us to promote interprofessional collaboration, which is vital in health care. Working in the clinic has allowed me to expand my cultural competence, and it will continue to help me serve my current and future patients in the best possible way.