Know your medicine: A novel student-led community service learning program

Introduction The objective of this article is to describe the efforts of the student pharmacist organization called Know Your Medicine (KYM) as they conduct medication therapy management (MTM) for older adults and underserved communities. Methods Patients brought medications, immunization records, and health concerns to KYM events during academic years 2012–2013 and 2013–2014. Student pharmacists performed health screenings, created personalized medication records (PMR), made recommendations, created personal action plans (PAP), and conducted follow-up phone calls. Results Student pharmacists provided MTM services for a total of 107 patients. The mean duration of a KYM appointment was 62±21 min, and student pharmacists provided a mean of 3.5±2.1 recommendations per patient. Patients had a mean age of 78±11 years, 4.5±3.2 disease states, 6.9±4.6 prescriptions, 1.9±1.9 OTC medications, and 2.8±2.6 vitamins or herbals. At the time of the follow-up phone call, a mean of 2.6±1.9 recommendations per patient had been followed. Discussion and conclusions Student pharmacists successfully implemented a new MTM program for older adults and underserved communities. This program can serve as an example of how other pharmacy colleges and schools might implement MTM training and real-world MTM experience for their student pharmacists.