INNOVATIONS in pharmacy

A Pharmacist’s Role in a Dental Clinic: Establishing a Collaborative and Interprofessional Education Site

Sarah Mahmood

UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Sarah Mouna

UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Kelly Jankowski

UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Luis Trejo

UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/iip.v11i2.3240

Keywords: Pharmacist, Interprofessional, Dental, Interprofessional Education (IPE), Dental Clinic, Telehealth, Residency, Pharmacy, Dentistry

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Abstract

In “A Pharmacist’s Role in A Dental Clinic: Establishing a Collaborative and Interprofessional Education Site” written by Kalin L. Johnson, et al., the article discusses the importance of having pharmacists in non-traditional settings, such as a university dental clinic, and the benefits of incorporating them into an interprofessional team. Pharmacists are medication experts who can reduce the burden on dental staff by assisting in disease state and medication counseling, medication reconciliation, medication management services, and identification of medication-related problems in dental settings. From August 2014 to July 2018, a total of 2,773 interventions were made on behalf of the pharmacy team. Integrating a pharmacy team contributed to more robust dentalcare and overall healthcare for patients. Overall, pharmacists were accepted by the dentistry team and patients with very few repercussions.¹

The purpose of this commentary is to propose a solution towards multiple issues identified by the author during her experience as an interprofessional pharmacist. We propose telehealth to be the solution to these issues. Our telehealth system will consist of pharmacy residents to foster an engaging learning environment while ultimately keeping costs low. This telehealth system will not only advance the knowledge of pharmacy residents and dental students, but will allow more interventions to be made by the pharmacy team as they will be able to expand virtually.

 

Article Type: Commentary