American Pharmacists Month
Educating the nation one Facebook status at a time.
Today’s technological advances allow information to spread
exponentially, giving rise to marketing techniques that use pre-existing
social networks to produce increased awareness. With American
Pharmacists Month closely approaching, the students of the
Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences of the University
of the Pacific have embraced upon APhA-ASP’s presidential theme,
Many
Paths, One Purpose, by launching a Facebook campaign,
“Educating the nation one Facebook status at a time.” We
seek to utilize social networks by having over 30,000 student
pharmacists and pharmacists providing daily Facebook status updates with
a fact about our profession.
On a flight back from the APhA Summer
Leadership Institute in Washington D.C., a conversation was
begun by attendee Andy Chan with with a stranger and he asked about
her thoughts on what the duties of a pharmacist
entailed. Her answer was short and simple: pharmacists count
medication. Nothing more. Nothing less. He listened to her views
and added on, certain to highlight the advances pharmacy has made, such
as immunizations,
MTM, etc. By the end of their short conversation, she exclaimed that
her entire perception of pharmacy had changed by the information he had
provided and thanked him for it. From this experience, the most
important message he gathered was that we as a profession should
not place the complete burden entirely on patients to educate themselves
about what their pharmacist can do for their healthcare. Rather, we as a
profession need to be proactive in reaching out to educate others.
Here is a list of 31
facts pertaining to pharmacy. For each day of American Pharmacists
Month, we encourage you to copy and paste the fact onto your Facebook
status. This will allow your family and friends to learn more about
pharmacy as profession and what you especially, can contribute.
Take a stance. Be proactive. Help in advancing your profession and
educating the nation with simple clicks of the mouse.
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