A look at the educational responsibilities and cost impact of the docent clinical pharmacist
JO Covinsky,
S Hamburger,
and
EJ Twin
One innovation at Truman Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, is the addition of the clinical pharmacist as a full-time member of the patient-care and educational teams. These practitioner-educators share responsibility for the patients' drug therapies and for the provision of instruction in basic pharmacology and pharmacotherapeutics in the medical school. Examination of the cost impact of these practitioners in separate studies indicates that they reduce drug costs. The unique pharmacology program provided solely by these clinical pharmacists is both well received and successful.
