Black Americans face persistent health care disparities, and whether patients identify with their health care providers plays a part. But Howard University is working to break barriers through its pharmacy program.
Pharmacists are a vital part of the health care equation.
"They’re doing more than just counting the pills," clinical assistant professor Malaika Turner said.
You’ll find pharmacists in research. They work for insurance companies and in hospital settings as well, "actually going to patients' rooms, making sure they're up to date with their medications and there are no interactions with their medications and just overall patient safety," said Nana Crentsil, a pharmacy student from Prince George's County.
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And pharmacists have been called on even more since the pandemic, to give vaccines and share a personal approach to heath and healing.
"As the medication experts, we're able to see, 'Well, maybe you need a little more; maybe you need a little less. Maybe you need to go take this at a different time of day,'" Turner said.
But there’s a cultural gap in care.
Health
Of the 315,470 us pharmacists recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor, just over 3.9%, or just over 12,000, are Black.
Why is that important for patients? It’s about trust.
"They’re much more responsive to care; they are much more likely to be adherent to their medication, be adherent to follow-ups and things like that when their practitioners look and sound like them," Turner said.
Howard University has a long tradition of educating people in this profession. Howard has taught pharmacy since 1868 and they’ve had a stand-alone college since 1882.
Today, the profession can offer salaries that are typically near or above six figures, but the motivations for these Howard students go far beyond the financial.
"Being from the south, I saw a lot of health disparities," said Kwinci Britt, whose post-undergrad work as a clinical research coordinator made the anecdotal empirical.
"Health disparities, health inequities, and I really want to just close the gap," Britt said.
Likewise, Jelani Smith saw a need at home.
"I come from one of the poorest counties in North Carolina," Smith said. "It’s called Columbus County. And we had one pharmacy that closed down and we only had one grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly."
Smith already has served his country as a military air traffic controller. Now he wants to serve Columbus County in an equally important role. Being bilingual, he’ll be doing double duty: "I want to go back and open up now the only pharmacy owned by an African American and Latino man."
It’s a competitive field. Students need to pass subjects such as organic chemistry and physics just to get into the school of pharmacy. This school and these students want to make sure that the profession reflects society in general.
"Health equity is so imperative," Turner said.
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