2024 Incentive Grant Recipient: Nicki Mashayekan, PharmD
Project Proposal: Patient Attitudes Towards Newly Accessible Over-the-Counter Progestin-Only Oral Contraception
Nicki Mashayekan, PharmD currently serves as the PGY-1 Community-based Pharmacy Resident at USC Pharmacies and Clinics/USC Mann School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences in Los Angeles, CA.
"Medication accessibility is a major determinant of public health and the welfare of the communities we serve. There’s a wide variety of obstacles that patients may face when trying to obtain a prescription for birth control, ranging from lack of transportation or time, to long scheduling delays to see a PCP. The recent approval of an OTC birth control broadens access and circumvents some of those barriers that patients may face when trying to attain a birth control prescription, and thus it can help reduce the negative maternal and perinatal outcomes associated with unplanned pregnancies. For these reasons, the information gathered from this project aims to assess patients’ attitudes towards OTC birth control to evaluate awareness, likelihood of use, and expected overall impact."
"I’m honored to receive the incentive grant and I hope that the information gathered through my project will promote a stronger relationship between community pharmacists and the patients we serve. I’m excited to share the information from my project with my peers because pharmacists have a unique and critical role in the community and expanding patients’ access to care. Understanding patients’ perspectives and the likelihood of medication use allows us to be more in-tune with our patients’ needs and tailor our services accordingly."