After so much studying..finally some applying!

"Hi, can you help me find something? I have this cough that won't go away and a terrible congestion in my sinuses. I took Keflex and Flonase, which my doctor prescribed awhile back and my congestion has improved but this tickling in my throat just won't go away."

You'd think this was a typical case scenario presented in class for us to analyze, but it wasn't. In fact, this was the first customer who approached me this afternoon in the drug aisle at the local Walgreens. The OTC Herbal Project held their first project outside of healthfairs by going straight to the public--the drug aisles of typical drug stores to answer questions from ambulatory customers. As you can imagine, shelf space is so important in stores that every single drug you name is squeezed onto every inch of the shelf. The effect? An overwhelming feeling of choices for pain, constipation,congestion, even the common cold. It just drives the typical pharmacy student crazy, not to mention the public. So as student pharmacists, we walked out from behind the counter (which can be intimidating) and made our ways down the aisle. The customers were super excited,"when are you guys coming back?" one customer asked.

From my experience today, I learned that

*patients tend to diagnose and treat themselves with old drugs prescribed by doctors
*patients like to stick to something that has worked for them in the past
*patients are intimidated from approaching the counter
*patients may use many drugs that may treat the same symptoms and not realize it
*patients think that antibiotics cure everything
*patients prefer brands over generic and are very influenced by the media
*student pharmacists can do a lot by educating patients and patients appreciate it