UB pharmacy students working to reduce illness, increase immunizations in partnership with Tops Markets

BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you walk into certain Tops pharmacies on a Wednesday afternoon, you may spot a University at Buffalo pharmacy student talking to customers about immunizations, screening for high blood pressure and prediabetes or making a referral to a smoking cessation program.

The Wellness Wednesdays initiative is a service-learning requirement for third-year students in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Now in its second year, the program is intended to offer health care education and services to customers, especially in neighborhoods where chronic illnesses are more prevalent.

“We thought this would be a great way to ensure all of our students have been in a community pharmacy before they get to their last year in the program and expose them to what a community pharmacy can do,” says Gina Prescott, PharmD, clinical professor and director of global and community outreach for the pharmacy school. “We’re also trying to reach patients in areas where a customer’s contact point with their pharmacy or grocery store may be their only avenue for health care.”

Prescott spearheaded the program with alumna Jamie Keller, PharmD, who serves as the pharmacy clinical programs manager for Tops Markets. She has also served as an adjunct professor in the pharmacy school.

When Keller participated in the school’s service-learning programs in the early 2010s, she says students had to organize their own clinics, and it could be a bit disorganized.

“I wanted to provide opportunities that were more structured and less of an administrative burden for students,” Keller says. “Also, I knew having regular clinics would be more helpful to the public.”

So far, 103 students have completed the service-learning program, and 126 are participating this academic year.

Four outreach sessions throughout academic year  

Every Wednesday, two students conduct outreach with customers at tables located right outside the pharmacies between 2 and 6 p.m.

The program is divided into four distinct outreach sessions. The first session, which focuses on immunization education, takes place in September and October in nine Tops pharmacies in Amherst, Orchard Park and North Tonawanda.

“Because this is in the fall, students predominantly focus on flu and COVID vaccines,” Prescott says. “But they also will talk to customers about any vaccinations they might be eligible for and provided at Tops.”

If the customers want to get vaccinated, the pharmacists can administer the vaccines.

“A lot of the education, especially this year, has been focused on addressing vaccine hesitancy and why it's important to be vaccinated,” Prescott adds. “We want to teach our students how to address patients who are not aware, not educated or misinformed about the public health problems that are out there.”

The second through fourth sessions, which focus on blood pressure education and screenings, smoking cessation and prediabetes screenings, respectively, are held in just three Tops locations in Buffalo: Jefferson Avenue, Amherst Street and Main Street.

“These stores are located in ZIP codes that have lower vaccination rates and higher rates of elevated blood pressure, smoking and diabetes compared with the rest of the Buffalo area,” Prescott says. “We’ve discussed with the students that in some of these areas, there aren’t medical clinics in close proximity. You may only be able to reach these potential patients through the grocery store pharmacy.”

For these sessions, teaching assistants from the pharmacy school are also on site to help facilitate and answer any questions the students or customers might have.

Progress for students, appreciation from public

Over the past year, Prescott says they’ve seen significant progress in students’ understanding of the importance of pharmacists’ work in these stores, and students have reported enjoying the experience.

Likewise, Keller says she has seen students’ confidence levels grow, especially if they haven’t had much experience working with the public.

“We’ve continued to get positive feedback from the community,” Keller adds. “The patients appreciate receiving the information and the extra care.”

Prescott anticipates that the service-learning program will continue.

“I think it helps the neighborhood residents because once you’re established, then they get used to seeing a presence there every week,” she says. “That helps develop trust.”

And this comes at a time when trust in the medical profession has diminished, particularly in regard to vaccines, she says, due to misinformation disseminated largely through social media. The community pharmacy work complements a class students take beforehand that addresses public health issues.

“We really want them out in the community, so they get a good understanding of what those public health issues are and how to address them as a pharmacist,” Prescott says. “We tell students no matter where you practice, you’re going to have to address this on some level because there’s just so much misinformation out there.”