Wyeth hits the road for women's health

Drug Store News, Sept 13, 2000 by Kim Roller

PHILADELPHIA -- Residents from the Campbell University School of Pharmacy have been getting a firsthand look at the future of pharmaceutical care, thanks to an innovative program developed by Wyeth-Ayerst. The program is in conjunction with Wyeth's sponsorship of Health magazine's "Women's Solutions Tour 2000"--a five-month, cross-country "truck tour" devoted to women's health issues.

Campbell pharmacy residents and faculty have been traveling with the tour since it began in June, rotating two-week shifts to perform bone-mineral density screenings and counseling on the 30-city tour, which has included stops at Wal-Mart, CVS, Rite Aid, Eckerd, Kmart, Kroger, Publix, Longs, Winn-Dixie and other retail outlets, as well as health clubs, across the United States.

"The feedback has been great. The patients have been totally overwhelmed," said Ronald Maddox, Pharm.D., dean of Campbell University's School of Pharmacy. He noted that by the end of the tour, the participating pharmacists will have counseled more than 200,000 women.

"It's really been a great training opportunity for our faculty and students, and also for the community as a whole," he noted.

The tour also lays the ground-work for ongoing pharmacist involvement within the community with the patients who take part in the program and testing, Maddox said.

"That is part of the process -- when we actually reach the site, our pharmacists go in and introduce themselves to the pharmacist in the mall or in the community, so they know what we're doing. We really just initiate the educational process, and when we move on, we turn it over to the pharmacist in the community," Maddox said.

"In addition to increasing community awareness of osteoporosis detection, prevention and treatment, the program enhances the profession of pharmacy and our involvement in pharmaceutical care," he noted.

"I see this as an opportunity for patient care," Maddox said, "but also as an opportunity to promote pharmacy as a profession, to make the community more aware of pharmacists and the educational tools we have to offer."