Over the next year, I will be sharing my unique experiences while on rotation. To speak honestly and openly with you, I will write this column anonymously under the name “Veronica.” It is my hope to provide you with insights about rotations and the many pharmacy opportunities I encounter.



In September, I had the opportunity to get fully immersed in an ambulatory care setting. For me, ambulatory care has been somewhat of an elusive, mystical creature. Housed somewhere between Minotaur and Pegasus, this specialty is something that I have heard a lot about, but did not fully experience as a student pharmacist until this 
rotation. 


At the APhA2015 APhA–ASP House of Delegates in March, the Academy passed Resolution 2015.4 Increased Access to Opioid Reversal Agents. The resolution includes the following:


1. APhA–ASP supports state and federal legislation to increase access to opioid reversal agents.

2. APhA–ASP encourages pharmacists and student pharmacists to provide public education about opioid reversal agents, including proper administration in situations of opioid-related drug overdose.


Since 1996, it is estimated that through community-based naloxone (Narcan) programs, more than 26,000 lives have been saved. The account featured here is from one such patient. The following excerpt, from the blog post “Overdose!,” was published anonymously by the Harm Reduction Coalition at www.hrc.org and is reprinted with permission. We are reprinting this to share the impact that these programs have for the beneficiaries of this life-saving medication

I am a scientist. Even when I was a little girl, I always preferred science and math. In fact, I asked Santa Claus for a microscope for Christmas when I was only 8 years old. Other school subjects such as history and English did not garner my attention like molecules and math. I could not see how politics and policy could affect my everyday life. However, in pharmacy school, I found my passion for policy.