Know your medicine, know your pharmacist.

In an effort to encourage conversation between people who take medications, and the pharmacists who dispense them, October was declared American Pharmacists’ Month. This is our yearly opportunity to highlight the services that pharmacists provide, and to build personal relationships with our patients. We, as pharmacists, encourage you to ask questions about your medications.

Pharmacists are drug therapy experts. While we are most often seen filling prescriptions, we also check each prescription for drug/drug interactions, as well as making sure that the dosage is a good fit for our patients. We provide immunizations, and we help people quit using commercial tobacco. We often get questions about how herbal, over-the-counter, and non-prescription medications may interact with the medications recommended by your doctor or primary care provider. We make recommendations to providers about drug alternatives to consider based on an individual patient’s needs.

There are pharmacists who see patients and adjust their medications based on a given diagnosis. Others work in laboratories developing new drugs. Some are primarily in a teaching role, providing information to students, pharmacists and prescribers. Still others work providing drug information and advice through the Poison Control Center.

I’d like to take this opportunity to invite you for a medication review. If you are a patient at Southern Ute Health Center, call 970-563-4581 to schedule an appointment with a pharmacist. Bring all of your medications with you, including prescriptions, herbals, supplements, and over-the-counter medications, and the pharmacist will review these medications, discuss side effects and interactions, and address concerns you may have about your medications.