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“Pharmacists are becoming interested in providing and advocating for more direct services to women, but don’t feel they have sufficient skills or are empowered enough,” said Sharon Cohen Landau, director of Pharmacy Access Partnership. By: Mari Edlin

As their ever-growing role in healthcare causes pharmacists to concentrate more on medication management and patient consulting, some are specializing in healthcare issues and needs specific to women.

In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made Plan B, an emergency contraceptive used to prevent pregnancy after intercourse, available over the counter to consumers 18 and older, and in April 2009 a subsequent bill decreased that age to 17. These decisions have spurred some pharmacists to learn more about women’s health.

Impetus for an expanded role for pharmacists also stems from the medication therapy management (MTM) mandate in Medicare Part D and from initiatives by employers such as the City of Asheville, North Carolina, and Pitney Bowes; both entities have put pharmacists front and center in successful value-based benefit designs that combine lower drug copayments with pharmacist-directed disease management.

In September 2009, the Pacific Institute for Women’s Health and Pharmacy Access Partnership launched the nation’s first leadership training program designed to help pharmacists become stronger champions of women’s health. Titled Pharmacy Forward, the year-long program invited nine fellows from eight states to learn about hormonal contraception, testing for and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, cervical cancer screening, and youth access to reproductive services.

Kathy Besinque, associate professor of clinical pharmacy, University of Southern California School of Pharmacy in Los Angeles, and a Partnership mentor, believes that emergency contraception has opened the door for pharmacists to become more involved in women’s issues, including menopause management, osteoporosis, hormone therapy, and use of contraceptives. Her curriculum includes an elective course on women’s health.

“Unfortunately, the media have created the perception that many pharmacists are not interested in involving themselves in women’s issues, which is just not true,” she said, adding that pharmacists are not always reimbursed for these extra services.

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CHINUP

Grab a chinup bar with a shoulder- width, underhand grip, cross your ankles behind you, and hang with your arms straight. Pull yourself up as high as you can. Pause, and then lower your body to the starting position. (Hard? Perform it on a lat pulldown machine.) To add to the challenge, hold a dumbbell between your feet or attach a weight plate to a dipping belt (most gyms have one) and hang it around your waist.

T PUSHUP

Perform a basic pushup, but as you push your body back up, rotate the right side of your body upward and raise your right arm quickly as if you’re trying to touch the ceiling. Yo should be facing sideways with both arms straight, so that they form a T. Return to the starting position and repeat, this time lifting the opposite arm and turning the other way. To make it harder, hold a light dumbbel in each hand as you do the exercise

INVERTED ROW

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SWISS-BALL PLANK

Place your elbows on a Swiss ball and your feet on a bench, so that your body is stretched out like itis during a pushup. It should form a straight line from shoulders to ankles. Contract and brace your abdominals. Hold this position for 60 seconds. Rest 60 seconds, and repeat one time. Each week, try to extend the time you hold the plank by 10 to 15 seconds.