The pandemic has proven that pharmacists are an integral part of an individual's health care, but it could be just the start.
The President of the American Pharmacists Association Dr. Sandra Leal was the guest speaker for the 2022 Sebok Pharmacy Lecture. Her topic was “Pharmacists of the Future will be Indispensable.” During the spread of COVID, pharmacists helped administer vaccines and did testing, but even before that, they helped with the management of a person’s diabetes and other health issues. As health care changes, Leal sees a growing role for pharmacists being more part of the health care team.
“There is a lot of shift to digital health, to telehealth, to leveraging Pharmacists to work within those new models of care,” says Leal. “We also see an aging population. We see some needs for a population health, so pharmacists are taking on some of those roles to be able to manage people, especially has they age and have more medications, to help people have better outcomes. I see a really bright future for all of the different ways that they could intervene in this health care system as it’s evolving.”
Leal says pharmacist are continuing their education to adapt to changing health situations, like how they learned to give shots and give tests during the pandemic. Plus, some are doing extra training to handle specialty areas like oncology and behavioral health to help with specific patient care.
