Global pen pal education intervention among student pharmacists: A pilot project.

INTRODUCTION: Global health, a practice that prioritizes improving health and achieving health equity for all people worldwide, is a priority for pharmacists, schools, and pharmacy colleges. Several initiatives aim to enhance faculty and student exchanges while promoting projects and initiatives among thriving universities and under-resourced countries and institutions. While many organizations recognize the benefit of global collaboration, as demonstrated by the adoption of the 2012 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Strategic Plan, which calls for increased global experiences for faculty and students, the COVID-19 pandemic created a demand for international engagement within pharmacy practice. The objective of this study was to evaluate students' perceptions and attitudes toward incorporating a global pharmacy pen pal (PPP) exchange within the pharmacy curricula at two schools/colleges of pharmacy. METHODS: This mixed-method study included assigned engagement within a required or elective didactic course, followed by a post-experience survey. Each student was pre-assigned a pen pal from a cohort of pharmacy students residing in 11 countries for the assignment. RESULTS: In total, 184 students completed the learning experience, and across both sites, 63 students completed the post-experience survey. The students' impressions of the PPP varied by site, yet most participants reported an improved awareness of pharmacy practice in other countries.

Conceptualizing Social Ecological Model in Pharmacy to Address Racism as a Social Determinant of Health.

Racism has been declared a public health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted inequities in the US health care system and presents unique opportunities for the pharmacy Academy to evaluate the training of student pharmacists to address social determinants of health among racial and ethnic minorities. The social ecological model, consisting of five levels of intervention (individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and public policy) has been effectively utilized in public health practice to influence behavior change that positively impacts health outcomes. This paper adapted the social ecological model and proposed a framework with five intervention levels for integrating racism as a social determinant of health into pharmacy curricula. The proposed corresponding levels of intervention for pharmacy education are the curricular, interprofessional, institutional, community, and accreditation levels. Other health professions such as dentistry, medicine, and nursing can easily adopt this framework for teaching racism and social determinants of health within their respective curricula.

Socialized and traumatized: Pharmacists, underserved patients, and the COVID-19 vaccine.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought attention and awareness to existing health disparities in underrepresented minority communities. Not only were minoritized populations disproportionately and negatively affected by COVID-19, but a history of mistrust and other systemic barriers prevented access to treatment and testing and even affected access and acceptance of the current vaccines. Pharmacists are essential to the provision of care for the general population, particularly during global crises. Minoritized pharmacists play an even greater role as partners with public health officials to translate science and build trust in minoritized community members who are hesitant about vaccine development, safety, and efficacy. Dedicated to representing the views and ideals of minority pharmacists on critical issues affecting health care, the National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA) has been at the forefront of the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, NPhA has prioritized the role of underrepresented practitioners, striving to improve awareness and access to underrepresented communities. While delivering education and information about the COVID-19 vaccine, clinical trials, population prioritization, and federal funding to our service areas and target populations, NPhA continues to challenge health care myths and address historical conflicts and systemic racism that often dictate the access to treatment and quality health care.