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Cassie Harrison posed for the cover of this magazine while a summer intern at the American Pharmacists Association’s national office in Washington, D.C. |
During a summer internship at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) national office in Washington, D.C., Harrison participated in efforts to expand pharmacists’ role in health care, and she said progress is being made.
“In all of the meetings I attended and with the people I met, there was so much going on to expand the pharmacist’s role as a health-care provider,” said Harrison, noting that in about a dozen states, pharmacists can’t even prick a patient’s finger to determine a blood-glucose level. “People are working to get pharmacists away from just putting pills in bottles.
Because of their education, pharmacists should be the primary educators about medications. Pharmacists should be better utilized in a community setting, and they have a lot to offer in a clinical setting, as well.”
Harrison, a third-year student, was one of three students nationwide selected for a 10-week internship at the APhA national office. The Papillion-LaVista High School graduate said the experience was “fantastic.”
“It was just awesome,” Harrison said. “It gave me an entirely different outlook on the profession of pharmacy. There’s so much more to it than I had realized.”
During her internship, Harrison organized a new operations manual – a sort of “nuts and bolts” guide — for the 89 chapters of the Academy of Students of Pharmacy (ASP) in schools and colleges of pharmacy across the nation. Harrison, current president of the UNMC ASP chapter, also put together a student outreach presentation that chapters can use to get students excited about ASP and its activities. She even is on the cover of a publication that has been sent to the nearly 20,000 APhA-ASP chapter members.
It was her work on Capitol Hill, however, that excited Harrison the most. She discussed Medicare legislation with several Congressional aides – including those of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. She also visited several times with aides of Nebraska Rep. Lee Terry about the drug importation bill. She noted that Terry voted her preference on both bills.
“My input was duly noted,” she said.
Harrison’s experiences, she said, have made her think about whether she will continue in her plans to be a community pharmacist, or whether she’s more suited to work for legislative changes so that her colleagues can be more effective in their pharmacist roles.
“It’s given me a little bit of drive to continue working for change,” Harrison said. “We, as pharmacists, need to better utilize our skills. Ultimately, the patient would receive better treatment, and that’s what is most important.”