Advocacy

[Correspondence] Advocacy training and social accountability of health professionals

As physicians-in-training with a keen interest in medical education and experience in advocacy, we could not agree more with the need to better align medical education with societal needs, as noted by Leana Wen and colleagues (Dec 3, p e12). However, we hope that the medical community will not only embrace the concept of social mission, but actively work on its implementation. We emphasise the need for clearly articulated outcomes, robust measures, and proper assessment of the social mission of medical schools.

Meet a Member: Sarah Whipple

Sarah Whipple, PharmD, BCPP, is a Mental Health Clinical Pharmacist at the VA Central Iowa Health Care System in Des Moines, Iowa.

Sarah feels strongly that psychiatric patients are often misunderstood and made psychiatric pharmacy a career to make a difference in the care that they receive.  Read on to learn how Sarah works to serve this population as she tries to improve their quality of life.

Case Report: 36 Year-Old African American Male with a History of Refractory Schizophrenia

Jerry McKee, PharmD, MS, BCPP

A 36 year-old African American male with a history of refractory schizophrenia was referred to the psychiatric clinical pharmacy specialist for case review and treatment recommendations. The patient was currently housed in the inpatient psychiatric facility of the department of corrections due to psychiatric decompensation, manifested as disorganized thoughts, poor hygiene, and auditory hallucinations. The psychiatric diagnosis was chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia and, as with many such individuals, there was an ongoing issue with medication non-adherence. There was an extensive documented history of poorly controlled mental illness in both the community setting and public inpatient psychiatric facilities, as well as during previous incarcerations.

Candidate Performance Measures for Screening for, Assessing, and Treating Unhealthy Substance Use in Hospitals: Advocacy or Evidence-Based Practice?

The Joint Commission recently proposed candidate performance measures addressing unhealthy substance use in hospitalized patients.

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