Clinical Pharmacy for Frontline Practice: Safe Medication and Herbal Use in Low-Resource Settings

In low-resource and humanitarian settings, pharmacists play a critical role in patient care—often extending beyond traditional dispensing to include clinical decision-making, medication safety, and patient education. The widespread use of herbal and traditional medicines, alongside conventional drugs, adds an additional layer of responsibility and risk.

Clinical Pharmacy for Frontline Practice is a practical, clinically oriented course designed for pharmacists working in low-resource, rural, conflict, or humanitarian environments. The course equips pharmacists with the knowledge and skills needed to ensure safe, rational, and evidence-informed use of both pharmaceutical and commonly used herbal medicines.

The course emphasizes:

1. Rational prescribing and dispensing principles
2. Medication safety and error prevention
3. Managing limited formularies and drug shortages
4. Dose adjustment in special populations
5. Identification and prevention of drug–drug and drug–herb interactions
6. Commonly used herbal and traditional medicines in low-resource settings
7. Evidence, benefits, risks, and contraindications of herbal therapies
8. Counseling patients on safe herbal medicine use
9. Antimicrobial stewardship in low-resource settings
10. Knowing when herbal use is unsafe and referral is required

Rather than promoting unregulated or unsafe practices, this course takes a patient-safety–centered and evidence-based approach, helping pharmacists navigate real-world situations where herbal and conventional medicines are frequently used together.