Students, faculty and staff in the School of Pharmacy will be contributing to Pharmacist Awareness Month (PAM) March 1-31 by offering several community engagement events to help educate health-care practitioners from other health-care disciplines and members of the general public about how a pharmacist can help improve the population’s health and well-being.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association initiated PAM to encourage pharmacists across the country to help create public awareness of the expanding scope of pharmacy practice.

School of Pharmacy events include:

Pharmacy “Phair”
Organized by the School of Pharmacy Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns (CAPSI) counsel, this booth-style setup will showcase the potential of a career in pharmacy. Students, faculty and staff will be available to offer insight on a variety of topics including entry requirements, work load, the expanding scope of pharmacy practice, and pharmacists’ roles in health care.

When: March 13, 10:30 a.m.–3 p.m.
Where: The Landing, UC-3018

“Med Heads” Speed Round
Question: How would you deal with a depressed patient who stopped taking his antidepressant because it caused sexual dysfunction? Scenarios such as this will be explored with current pharmacy students and faculty during a role-playing game. Med Heads is a board game designed as a teaching and learning tool, where students can hone their pharmacist-patient communication and counselling. The game was designed and produced with funds received from Dr. Leslie Phillips’ 2010 President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.

When: March 13, 12–1 p.m. (part of CAPSI’s Pharmacy Phair)
Where: The Landing, UC-3018

Visit here for more information on Med Heads.

Pharmacy Research Innovation Day
Researchers will showcase the varieties of undergraduate, graduate, and faculty research being conducted in the School of Pharmacy’s three strategic research directions – health outcomes, drug discovery and delivery, and teaching and learning. This full day event on Thursday, March 19, will begin with poster presentations from 10 a.m.–12 p.m. in the main foyer of the Health Sciences Centre, followed by oral presentations in the main auditorium from 12–1 p.m. A reception will follow.

Selected topics include:

• Booze and Berries: How do the effects of ethanol exposure in adolescents affect their long-term motor function? And can blueberries and partridgeberries help protect your brain?
• Many Voices, One Community: Can a strong community help prevent mental-health disorders and substance abuse in youth?
• Bariatric Surgery, Before and After: How effective are obesity management medications both before and after bariatric surgery?

Public Pill Drop
CAPSI students in partnership with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are holding the annual Public Pill Drop, where members of the public can safely dispose of their expired medications. Visitors are asked to please leave labels on medications to facilitate easy identification of medications. All personal identification information will be destroyed.

When: Saturday, March 28, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Where: RNC Headquarters, Fort Townshend, St. John's

A variety of other community outreach initiatives are planned, including presentations to primary/elementary, junior high and high schools on topics such as smoking cessation, the dangers of prescription drug abuse, blood pressure testing for seniors and counselling on the services pharmacists can offer, plus teaching local Sparks and Brownies groups how to make lip gloss.

To keep up to date on all things PAM:

Facebook.com/munpam2015 and facebook.com/schoolofpharmacy

Twitter: @MUNPAM2015 and @schoolofpharm

Memorial hashtag: #MUNPAM2015.

A full schedule of events will be available by early March on www.mun.ca/pharmacy.