The role of the community pharmacist in veterinary patient care: a cross-sectional study of pharmacist and veterinarian viewpoints

Abstract

Background: The role of the community pharmacist is rapidly expanding to encompass the care of veterinary patients in the United States of America This change makes it imperative for pharmacists and veterinarians who practice in community settings to establish mutual agreement on the roles of pharmacists in the care of these patients.
 Objective: To examine community-based pharmacist and veterinarian viewpoints on interprofessional collaboration and the role of the community pharmacist in veterinary patient care.
 Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were sent to pharmacists and veterinarians who practice in a community setting in Ohio. Surveys collected demographic information and addressed the following themes: attitudes toward collaboration, perceived roles of the pharmacist, expectations of the pharmacist, and previous collaborative experiences. A chi-square test was used for statistical analysis.
 Results: In total, 357 pharmacists and 232 veterinarians participated in the study. Both professions agreed that pharmacist-veterinarian collaboration is important in order to optimize veterinary patient care (chi-square (1, N=589)=7.7, p=0.006). Overall, veterinarians were more likely to identify an important role of the community pharmacist to be compounding medications (chi-square (1, N=589)=26.7, p<0.001) compared to counseling pet owners (chi-square (1, N=589)=171.7, p<0.001). Both groups reported similar levels of agreement regarding the importance for pharmacists to have adequate knowledge of veterinary medicine.
 Conclusions: Our study found that while both pharmacists and veterinarians conveyed a positive attitude regarding interprofessional collaboration, they disagreed on what role the pharmacist should play in the care of veterinary patients. Rectifying the discordant perceptions of these health care professionals may be critical to developing collaborative initiatives and optimizing veterinary patient care.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Community Pharmacy Professionals on Poultry Antibiotic Dispensing, Use, and Bacterial Antimicrobial Resistance in Zambia: Implications on Antibiotic Stewardship and WHO AWaRe Classification of Antibiotics

“…There are also gaps in the awareness of AMR and the links between ABU and AMR in our study, similar to other studies [ 67 , 71 ]. This suggests a need for pharmacy professionals to work closely with veterinary professionals and related stakeholders in developing and instigating strategies to curb unnecessary ABU to prevent the adverse consequences of AMR [ 99 ]. This can build on our findings that most of the participants in our study knew about the uses and withdrawal periods of antibiotics, similar to studies in Bangladesh and Bhutan [ 71 , 73 ].…”

Are We Making the Most of Community Pharmacies? Implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship Measures in Community Pharmacies: A Narrative Review

“…Another field of interest concerns veterinary medicine, as community pharmacists are increasingly being involved in dispensing animals’ medications [ 91 , 92 ]. The extensive use of antibiotics in animal husbandry is considered an important contributor to microbial resistance, as antibiotics are not only used in treatment of developed infection but also as a growth promotor factor or prophylactic, often administered to an entire stock of animals [ 93 , 94 ].…”

“…Another concerning practice was discovered by a study in India where the veterinary antimicrobial medications for working animals were dispensed intentionally in wrong dosages and in higher quantities for financial gain [ 105 ]. Another obstacle in ensuring the proper use of antimicrobial drugs was the pharmacists’ perceived lack of knowledge about veterinary pharmacology, further potentiated by the lack of developed guidelines about antibiotics use in animals [ 91 , 92 ].…”

Veterinary prescription errors in a community pharmacy setting: A retrospective review

“…A 2020 survey revealed that only 22% of responding veterinarians felt confident in the ability of the pharmacist filling and counseling on veterinary medications. 8 However, there is a paucity of data available to describe medication and prescription errors made by veterinarians. This is especially important after a recent conference presentation that reported only 22.2% of veterinary students are being taught prescription writing and 35.7% of veterinarians do not consult with a pharmacist when training veterinary students to write prescriptions.…”

“…This collaborative focus is echoed in a study that found 84% of veterinarians and 92% of pharmacists are interested in collaborating with their local counterparts. 8 Assessment of prescription errors and the resulting responsible party is vitaldnot in laying blame but in understanding how and why errors occurred so that future errors can be prevented. Identifying the prevalence of veterinary prescription errors and establishing what the most common errors are and at what point in the prescribing process they occur will enable the development of effective continuing pharmacy education opportunities and advancement of interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and veterinarians.…”