The Regimen: Portrayal of Pharmacists in Media

Introducing The Regimen, a podcast now in collaboration with Drug Topics®, where Jeffrey Bratberg, PharmD, clinical professor of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy and academic collaborations officer at the Rhode Island Department of Health, talks with experts and pharmacy students about the latest public health issues, their solutions, and how pharmacists can make an impact.

In this episode, Jeff and Madi Hartling, a 2025 PharmD candidate at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, discuss the portrayal of pharmacists in the media. In TV shows, movies, and advertisements, pharmacists are frequently depicted as robotic professionals who simply count pills and hand over prescriptions. This narrow representation overlooks the critical role pharmacists play in health care, from providing medication counseling to ensuring patient safety.

While public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance of pharmacists, the media still has room to improve in its portrayal of them. A more accurate depiction would showcase their deep knowledge of pharmacology, their collaboration with doctors, and their patient-care responsibilities. This could help the public gain a greater appreciation for pharmacists as essential health care professionals rather than just dispensers of medicine.

Listen on to hear Jeff and Madi discuss how the roles of pharmacists outside of traditional community practice are rarely represented, the lack of pharmacists in medical shows, how pharmacists are typically portrayed negatively, the lack of gender diversity, how it impacts the public’s view of the pharmacy profession, and more.

Be sure to tune in every month on Drug Topics for important conversations around improving population health, health equity, and patient care through advocacy and education. All episodes of The Regimen will be available on DrugTopics.com, as well as through The Regimen’s Spotify and Apple pages.

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