The Sexual Health Committee within Temple University School of Pharmacy’s APhA–ASP Chapter is unique in that it is one of the few to exist amongst APhA as a whole. In addition, sexual health is a prevalent public health concern in Philadelphia, giving us an opportunity to make a substantial impact in our community. 

We have educated our community on sexual health topics such as safe sex practices, prevention of the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, birth control, and HIV education/prevention. As the demographic surrounding Temple University is largely college-aged students and an underprivileged population,  this sexual health education reaches a community that can directly use the information that we provide. 

At East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, it is the ongoing goal of the APhA–ASP Chapter’s Generation Rx initiative to adapt events to the needs that are prevalent in the Appalachian region. This goal allows committee members to connect with the people they are striving to help. Often, the medication-related issues that residents of our community face are similar to those that student pharmacists have seen in their own hometowns.

Prescription opioids are still the most common drugs associated with overdose deaths in Tennessee. The region of northeast Tennessee, where ETSU is located, has the highest concentration in the state for opioid-related overdose deaths. As a result, student leaders sought to expand previous outreach efforts that focused on Identification of at-risk individuals for an opioid overdose and provide them with naloxone and education.

Using 2016–17 APhA–ASP President Kelsea Gallegos’ presidential theme as our mantra, the goal that year for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy APhA–ASP Chapter was to protect individuals from the dangers of prescription medication abuse. “Together” we accomplished this by conducting Generation Rx activities for elementary, middle school, high school, and college students, as well as teachers, parents, and seniors. By raising awareness and encouraging sobriety and/or recovery, we established that “We Can” improve the health of our communities and better enable our patients.