The UNMC American Pharmaceutical Association Academy of Students of Pharmacy is sponsoring a free public activity as well as student events on-campus. They also will have information available about the role pharmacists play in disease prevention and management. People can also ask questions about their medications. The students also will be available to answer questions on how to store medications safely, what questions to ask pharmacists and which non-prescription medicines should not be taken with prescription medication. Pharmacists are an important resource for preventive care and managing health problems like diabetes and high cholesterol, said Sara Burda, UNMC pharmacy student.
Pharmacists help eliminate unnecessary costs by improving medicine use.
Pharmacists now are playing a more collaborative role with physicians in deciding how best to treat patients. Pharmacies also are expanding their roles within the health care delivery system from a profession focusing on preparation and dispensing of medications to one that promotes a range of patient-oriented services to maximize the medicine s effectiveness. With more drive-through pharmacies emerging, pharmacists are under more pressure to count and dispense medications faster, say students, and the chance for medications errors increases. The service is convenient, said Niki Frates, UNMC pharmacy student, but like at any pharmacy, medication errors can occur, so it s another reason people need to check their medications and ask questions. The American Pharmaceutical Association estimates that U.S. businesses lose 20 million workdays per year due to incorrect use of medicines prescribed for heart and circulatory diseases alone.