A key component of Pharmacy Awareness Month (PAM) is community outreach. Our goal is to raise awareness about the profession of pharmacy among the greater community and the work we have done in this area over the past month has pioneered the way for subsequent UBC PAM committees.

Our approach to community outreach this year has been primarily through setting up advocacy booths hosted by pharmacy student volunteers in various community centres around the Lower Mainland. These booths allow students to gain valuable experience in speaking about the profession, and also empower members of the public with a greater understanding of how pharmacists can be of service.

Our first community centre advocacy booth was held at Kerrisdale Community Centre on March 14. We arranged to display pharmacy information posters in the community centres that were unable to host a booth this year.

Pharmacy is a tremendously exciting and evolving profession and we are proud to spread the word through these community outreach projects. We want the general public to be aware of what pharmacists, as the most accessible healthcare professionals, can offer – from medication management and counselling, to administering vaccinations, and adapting and renewing prescriptions. We are also endeavouring to address common misconceptions around the safety and efficacy of medications in our community outreach work.

Advocacy ain’t always easy, but someone has to do it!

– Jeremy Antepyan and Maci Wong, PAM Community Outreach Coordinators 2015

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