What do people go to the pharmacy for?
Dr. Stepheny Zani - 17 February 2026
Dr. Yazid Al-Harmaneh
Long waiting times in the medical emergency department. Waiting days before you can see your family physician (if you are lucky enough to have one!). Uncertainty when you call the helpline as they insist you need to be seen. The difficult landscape of the Alberta health care system is not news to anyone. But instead of complaining, what if we could find answers by looking at another healthcare provider who is already part of the system and has the ability to fill those gaps? That provider is the pharmacist.
Since 2007, pharmacists have been able to prescribe medications to help manage chronic ailments, such as high blood pressure, asthma and diabetes. Moreover, since 2022, pharmacy care clinics have grown from a single one in Lethbridge in 2022 to over 100 across the province. This has represented a major step forward allowing pharmacists to provide care to their full scope, from interpreting test results, to prescribing and injecting medications.
Reflecting about this program and their findings, in an article published in the Canadian Pharmacists Journal and awarded as the best presentation at the International Pharmaceutical Federation Conference, a team led by Drs. Yazid Al Hamarneh and Scot Simpson discuss the success of this program and provide us with clues about the reasons why people are going to the pharmacy care clinic.
By collecting written information from 3305 people visiting the pharmacy clinic between June 2022 and January 2023, they learned females accounted for the majority of individuals visiting the clinic. Individuals who had a family physician visited the clinic mostly for acute common ailments, but those who reported not having a family physician - representing a full third of the participants - mostly sought help to manage a chronic health condition. In comparison to the other two options, a walk-in clinic or the emergency department, this tended to be the easiest and fastest route to action.
As for the reasons for visiting the clinic, most of us can relate. Common ailments accounted for 80%with respiratory tract related concerns on the top of the list. Other conditions reported were urinary tract infections, external ear conditions, eye conditions, dermatitis, or musculoskeletal pain. In the group of chronic disease, pharmacists provided help in reviewing prescribed medications, assessing mental health concerns and high blood pressure. Anyone who has suffered or cares for someone suffering a chronic condition should be nodding. After all, this is how healthcare is accomplished today as it will into the future.
There is little surprise why this work was an award winner. But more importantly, it has sparked an attempt to fill a gap in knowledge regarding the role of pharmacists in our healthcare system. Increasing awareness of the pharmacists role in daily health care is more than recognizing their profession, it is about alleviating the burden in Canada’s health care and improving people’s quality of life.
So, with that in mind, let me ask you: “What can a pharmacist help you with today?”