Top Docs 2008 Part III: Why to Speak Up


Where to Get…
Medical help on your own schedule.

Unless you live in a world where doctors answer their phone whenever it rings, work the weekends, and stay open late, get to know your pharmacist. “If it’s not an outright medical emergency, sometimes they’re the first ones you call,” says Jaclyn Stein of Brookline’s J. E. Pierce Apothecary and a board member of the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association. “They’re the most accessible of the healthcare providers.” Far from just handing out pills, pharmacists also field questions on new drugs and supplements, liaise with doctors and specialists, and increasingly offer services like flu clinics, glucose tests, and “brown bag days,” when customers can bring in pills they’ve forgotten why they’re taking. Ask nicely, and they might just prefill your day-of-the-week pillbox, too.