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| Vol. 21, No. 23 |
| December 15, 1999 |
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Brown Bag Medication Reviews Offered as a Community Service Approximately two to 10 times each academic semester, the University of Houston College of Pharmacy students perform Brown Bag Medication Reviews (BBMRs). This community service is available to the Houston public.
At the reviews, patients from the elderly population have the opportunity to bring their medications and health issues that they are unsure about for review by the students. Although most of the reviews are geared to senior citizens, it is not limited to them. Several pharmacists also are on hand to oversee the student activity. "Brown Bag Medication Reviews challenge pharmacy students to apply the knowledge they learn in class. The reviews also provide an environment in which the students are respected by health care professionals and patients," says second-year pharmacy student Sonal Patel. For some reviews, the students also set up special stations including blood pressure monitoring, clinical pharmacology demonstrations with printouts of drug interactions, medication counseling including herbal and over-the-counter drugs and Vial of Life registration forms that allow emergency medical services to treat patients according to their medical history. "This is a great opportunity for the students to put their knowledge of pharmacy to work. The various stations also allow our patients to move around more and it speeds the flow of traffic to make the wait shorter," says Dr. Andrea Smesny, pharmacy skills program coordinator. The students recently completed two reviews serving over 125 patients from the Memorial 55+ group in Humble. Licensed pharmacists always are welcome to attend and help oversee students. For more information on how your group can become a part of the Brown Bag Medication Reviews, please call Andrea Smesny, 713-743-1298. - DONTEE LEWIS
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