Serious question: how do pharmacists "help" provide primary care? I've been on a number of services where pharmacists rounded with us, but in general their only real function was to tell us what meds the patients were on, and didn't do much beyond that. In a clinic setting, I have never interacted with a pharmacist at all. I assume that, when I write scripts, the pharmacist (or tech) that fills it goes over the side effects with the patient, but beyond that I don't really know what you all do.
Is Family Medicine "primary care"? Well, the Family Medicine Education Consortium gave this guy a lifetime achievement award (
http://www.tuftsfmr.org/faculty_residents/malden_staff.shtml#Shaughnessy):
"
2005 Lifetime Faculty Achievement Award
Allen F. Shaughnessy, PharmD
Family Medicine Residency
Tufts University School of Medicine
Boston, Massachusetts
[email protected]
Allen F. Shaughnessy, PharmD - Tufts University Family Medicine Residency, Malden, Massachusetts, Adjunct Professor, Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston. Dr. Shaughnessy joined the faculty in 2004, though he has been teaching in family medicine residency programs since 1986. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. He has completed a faculty development fellowship and the federal government's Department of Health and Human Services Primary Care Health Policy Fellowship. He is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.
Dr. Shaughnessy has been active in research and evidence-based medicine. He has written over 120 papers in the areas of pharmacology, family practice education, prescription-writing, and medical information management that have been published in journals such as the Journal of Family Practice, JAMA, British Medical Journal, and American Family Physician. He is the series editor for the American Family Physician's STEPS series of new drug reviews, and co-editor, with fellow faculty member (and spouse) Dr. Gordon, of the Clinical Pharmacology series.
Along with Dr. David Slawson, he has developed the concepts of Information Mastery. They also developed the concept of "Patient Oriented Evidence that Matters" (POEMs). A leader in medical information management, Dr. Shaughnessy conducts presentations and workshops across the United States and has also presented workshops in Spain, England, and Wales. In 2002, he and Dr. Slawson were awarded the Innovative Program Award by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine for their work on Information Mastery."
I mean, I choose to take Tufts word for it that he brings something to the table (maybe he just tells all the physicians what medications patients are on really, really well?).
When you publish 120 papers in your field, you can ask what he "does" to help with the delivery of primary care.....