Response of community pharmacists to potential oral carcinoma.

This survey was performed to determine whether community pharmacists respond appropriately when they encounter an oral lesion of extended duration--which is a sign of potential oral carcinoma. An interviewer visited 101 community pharmacies in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Rochester, and St. Cloud, Minn. The interviewer told the pharmacist: "My grandmother has had an ulcer on the floor of her month for two or three months." Two-thirds of the pharmacists recommended purchasing a product available in the pharmacy; only one-third recommended an appointment with a physician or dentist. This finding appears to indicate a substantial deficit in pharmacists' clinical knowledge of oral conditions. To correct this problem, pharmacists' education should address oral conditions and place increased emphasis on clinical presentation.

University-based sports pharmacy program.

Ways for pharmacists to become involved in sports pharmacy are discussed, and a university-based sports pharmacy program is described. Sports pharmacy encompasses treating athletic injuries, distributing drugs and sports-related supplies, counseling patients, and monitoring therapeutic outcomes, along with educating athletes, trainers, and others about drug use and abuse. Pharmacists can contribute their expertise by presenting information at schools, health clubs, and other exercise-related organizations. They can serve on drug-testing crews at collegiate athletic events. Pharmacists can also provide supplies and services to schools or athletic facilities; ideally, this could be a contractual arrangement to provide comprehensive pharmaceutical care. A sports pharmacy program was implemented at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980. Pharmacists provide drug therapy monitoring and patient education to all patients at the school; patients' level of athletic activity is taken into consideration. Pharmacists also ensure proper use, storage, and distribution of drugs kept in clinics, training rooms, and sports medicine travel bags, as well as identifying and providing drugs and supplies that might be needed at an off-campus event. They provide inservice education to athletic trainers and physicians. The program has improved patient outcomes and helped to ensure adequate drug supplies and minimum waste. There are numerous opportunities for practitioners to become involved in sports pharmacy. A university-based sports pharmacy program improved the care of student athletes and helped contain drug costs.

Preparing community educational presentations on ergogenic drug use.

Advice on how to prepare educational presentations on the use of ergogenic drugs is provided. One way that pharmacists can contribute to the effort to curb the use of performance-enhancing drugs is by giving educational presentations in schools and other public forums and before groups of athletes, parents, teachers, healthcare professionals, and others. Public demand for information on the pharmacology and risks of ergogenic drug use, especially anabolic steroid use, has increased in the wake of the widely publicized disqualification of sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 Summer Olympics. When addressing adolescents, speakers must choose their words particularly carefully because these listeners tend to focus only on the possible benefits of the drugs in question, which may appeal not only to athletes but also to those seeking to improve their physical appearance. In addition, speakers must overcome a credibility gap created by early claims by medical experts that anabolic steroids are not effective in increasing muscle size and strength. Thorough preparation is the key to effective presentations. Reading of relevant materials is important, but speakers should also familiarize themselves with the practical details by talking with athletes, gym owners, and sports medicine personnel. The speaker must be prepared to answer pointed questions from sometimes skeptical audiences. By preparing effective, factual community presentations on ergogenic drug use, pharmacists can help to dispel the misinformation that leads many high school students to begin using these agents.