School of Pharmacy Expands Free Medical Clinic Work
(Clinton, S.C.) February 7, 2013 — Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy (PCSP) Community Care Pharmacy has expanded its services to include service to the Spanish speaking Clinica Gratis Free Clinic in Greenwood, South Carolina.
Already working with the Good Shepherd Clinic, PCSP Community Pharmacy is committed to improving patient adherence or compliance with medication directives. The goal of the program is to educate patients and help them take more responsibility for their healthcare. This is accomplished through individual sessions with patients to review their medication history and provide counseling specific to current prescriptions, including the importance of taking medications as prescribed.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to serve the patients of Clinica Gratis,” says Dr. Charles Shively, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacist in Charge of the Community Care Pharmacy. “Being able to serve the needs of the Spanish speaking community is very gratifying.”
Each week the prescriptions for the clinic are sent to PCSP’s Community Care Pharmacy to be filled. The prescriptions (complete with instructions) are translated into Spanish and filled as specified. On Thursdays, Dr. Shively and two students who are in their third year of pharmacy school spend four to five hours at Clinica Gratis dispensing the medications and conducting personal patient counseling sessions in Spanish.
Prior to PCSP’s involvement with Clinica Gratis, the clinic had no ability to dispense medications or provide the patient medication therapy. PCSP initially embarked on the initiative to partner with free clinics to provide this service, at the request of the South Carolina Free Clinic Association.
Studies have shown that increasing the level of medication management services and personalized counseling to patients in free clinics will reduce the number of repeat visits to local emergency rooms. PCSP is in ongoing discussions with other free clinics interested in a similar partnership with the school.
The Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy opened in 2010 and is dedicated to the ideals of leadership, honor to the profession, and service to the community.
