Abstract
It seems that no matter what part of the country or which type of practice pharmacists find themselves in during their usual workdays, they love to break free of routines during the spring conference season and I'm no exception.
I recently attended several provincial and national conferences and participated in a wide variety of sessions. I appreciated the opportunity to update my clinical knowledge, hear about positive changes in government policies, and learn about the fascinating practice research being conducted to “prepare pharmacists for the future.” I truly enjoyed these presentations and returned to work feeling energized and ready to take on the world.
In reviewing the notes accumulated during my travels, however, I find that the take-home messages are not necessarily so positive. For example, pharmacists in Ontario heard that they are “critical to the success and sustainability of health care,” according to the Honourable Jim Watson, provincial Minister of Health. Unfortunately, at the same conference, Dr. Joseph D'Cruz, a professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, reported that “although pharmacists have more contact with patients than any other health care profession, you are invisible, with no voice in the systems (in hospital and government) that determine overall strategy.” Not a very promising situation on the eve of the next provincial and territorial health ministers' meeting to discuss the National Pharmaceutical Strategy.
In addition, although BC pharmacists participating in an osteoarthritis trial are considered “public health resources in osteoarthritis screening” and the federal folks responsible for pandemic planning believe that “pharmacists play a vital part in pandemic preparedness,” we are not even on the radar when that same Public Health Agency of Canada discusses public health workforce planning. Am I the only one getting mixed messages?
In spite of all the encouraging material presented at these conferences, the truth is that pharmacy practice research alone won't change the daily reality for most community pharmacists. As eloquently described in our last issue, individual pharmacists need to take responsibility for adopting the pharmaceutical care approach as their guide to practice — we can't sit around and wait for some corporate owner, regulatory authority, or even professional association to do it for us. 1 As I overheard one prominent researcher say, “It's time to get our act together!”