In February 2022, Texas state legislature published statements equating gender-affirming therapy (GAT) to child abuse. This wasn’t an isolated incident, but in fact a single chapter of a series of functionally interchangeable manifestations of uninformed hostility springing forth across the country. The legislative movements in Texas, Florida, Arizona, Idaho, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and other states are motivated by intolerance and seek only to alienate those who are different from the ones enacting the policies. The policies target an already marginalized population, eliminating options for treatment and threatening them with worsening outcomes.

Pharmacists’ prescriptive authority is growing throughout the country, with Idaho being one of the most advanced states in this area.¹ In Idaho, pharmacists have prescriptive authority for conditions that do not require a new diagnosis or in emergency situations, minor/self-limiting conditions, or conditions diagnosed through a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments–waived test.

One of my favorite things to do as a student pharmacist and pharmacist intern is administering vaccines. Since 1997, APhA’s Operation Immunization has ensured that student pharmacists are trained to increase vaccines’ immensely positive impact on our society’s public health and our patients’ wellness. In the 2020–21 academic year alone, student pharmacists immunized more than 1.2 million patients. Vaccines are a brilliant source of technology, and it is an immense privilege that student pharmacists can be the conduit of that powerful technology to the general public.

At the 2022 APhA–ASP House of Delegates, student pharmacists celebrated the results of another successful Back the PAC campaign. This exciting annual competition challenges chapters across the nation to raise funds for the APhA Political Action Committee (APhA–PAC), a fund that supports pro-pharmacy candidates for federal office and educates student pharmacists on the importance of active political engagement.

Significant legal changes are occurring in the field of pharmacy, including the elimination of the Part III examination requirement to become a licensed pharmacist in the state of New York and pushes toward pharmacists gaining provider status. However, as a transfer student pharmacist at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS), I have felt as though I am lacking the knowledge that I need to be able to advocate for myself in the field of pharmacy. This is because throughout most of my education, I have not been around pharmacists and other student pharmacists, which would have allowed me to learn more about the impacts of legislation on the pharmacy profession.