2021 Incentive Grant Recipients

2021 Incentive Grant Recipient: Carrie Lynch, PharmD

Residents and their Preceptors

 

Project Proposal: Pharmacist Perceptions and Willingness to Initiate COVID-19 Point-of-Care Testing in an Independent, Community Pharmacy Setting

Carrie Lynch, PharmD, currently serves as the PGY1 Community-based Pharmacy Resident at Hawthorne Pharmacy in Columbia, SC

“I am truly honored to receive an Incentive Grant this year as it will allow my research to reach it’s fullest potential in offering insight into a direct role independent, community pharmacists can serve during the current pandemic and beyond to fight the spread of COVID-19.”

Community pharmacists are considered some of the most accessible healthcare providers with the qualifications necessary to not only educate patients on COVID-19 updates and recognize COVID-19 symptoms for referral but also provide point-of-care (POC) COVID-19 testing for patients within their distinct practice sites. It is my hope to ease the pathway for pharmacists within this practice setting to offer this service by presenting potential implementation strategies and identifying potential barriers that can be faced during initiation and throughout the service continuum.

Community pharmacists have recently begun offering point-of-care testing within their businesses. However, the service is not offered universally within independent pharmacies, and pharmacists are not commonly recognized for this contribution. I am excited to bring COVID-19 point-of-care testing to the forefront of community pharmacy and allow pharmacists to fulfil their position as essential healthcare providers at the highest caliber.