Joseph Shen
Illinois Health Professional Students’ Awareness and Perceptions of Community Pharmacist-Provided Clinical Services
Joseph Shen is a PGY1 community-based pharmacy resident with Albertsons Companies in Chicago, IL.
“The biggest barrier to showing others all the things you can do isn't people not knowing what you can do, but people thinking they already know.
Prescribers collaborate with clinical pharmacists because they are taught how each profession uses its respective skills and expertise to improve patient outcomes. We don't know how much and in what ways they are willing to collaborate with community pharmacists because no one has asked. My research question was motivated by my dissatisfaction with this knowledge gap and desire to educate future prescribers about all the services and resources community pharmacists have to offer.
What excites me most about my project is to learn how much future prescribers (and by extension their patients) are lacking knowledge on what we do in community pharmacy. Even among our own profession there are pharmacists who are skeptical about the value of community pharmacists. I see this as an opportunity to clear up that uncertainty and maybe even start working towards changing how we think about the most accessible healthcare providers.”