March 11 will mark five years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. University of Michigan experts look back on successes and failures in public health and medicine; discuss continued effects in education, business and society; and offer insights on how prepared we are for a future pandemic.
PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICINE
Gregory Eschenauer, clinical professor at the College of Pharmacy and an infectious diseases clinical specialist at Michigan Medicine, served as a Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists representative on the National Institutes of Health COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel. He can speak to the change in pharmacies and the heightened role of pharmacists as health care providers during and since the pandemic.
"As with all health care providers, the COVID-19 pandemic was a time of profound stress for pharmacists. However, it was also a time where the instrumental and diverse roles pharmacists play in the treatment and prevention of disease were clearly demonstrated," he said.
"The community is well-accustomed to pharmacists in outpatient pharmacies providing vaccinations, and this role was even more crucial once COVID-19 vaccines became available. Pharmacists in clinical settings, such as Michigan Medicine, also research new therapies to assess their safety and efficacy, manage critical drug shortages, develop models for effective and equitable stewardship of therapies, evaluate data to inform internal such as our antimicrobial stewardship program and external guidelines, and of course, provide clinical care to patients in the hospital and community.
"Accordingly, our service during the pandemic is also a period of pride for many pharmacists in that we were able to utilize our diverse skill set to help our community and patients at such a time of critical need."
