And that's not all. They can do health screenings for blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol. They can treat strep throat. They can prescribe treatments for UTIs (urinary tract infections). They can do rapid flu testing. Prescribe tobacco cessation products. Prescribe antivirals for cold sores. They can even prescribe Naloxone for opioid reversal.

"What we're doing, nobody else is doing in the country," said Kevin Cleveland, associate professor at ISU's College of Pharmacy. "Idaho is so far ahead of other states as to what pharmacists can do."

Cleveland said pharmacists in Idaho, while not taking the place of a physician's role, are in many instances more available and easier to see.

"People will see their pharmacists six to seven times more than their physician," he said.

In rural areas, where making a doctor's appointment can be a challenge, pharmacists are able to step in and lend a hand in delivering much-needed immunizations and health screenings, he said. And, "even in rural areas, there usually is a pharmacy."

Cleveland said an immunization coalition of pharmacy students have been especially helpful in immunizing underserved communities, including hundreds in Hispanic communities and, most recently, in an Idaho community of Korean refugees, where 107 were vaccinated.

ISU's College of Pharmacy has three campuses: the home base in Pocatello, a campus in Meridian and another one in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska was the last state to get a college of pharmacy, said Cleveland, and it has partnered with ISU for 10 years.

"They looked at us and how we do our (synchronous) programs and chose us to partner with," he said.

The synchronous teaching style allows a professor to present a lecture to students at all three campuses — at the same time.

"They can see me and I can see all of them," Cleveland said. "When everybody locked down for COVID, our students didn't skip a beat."

Cleveland said the role of a pharmacist is in lock step with the big-picture medical treatment team that includes nurses, physician assistants — and pharmacists. The amount of education is similar to that of a physician. Students typically go into a pre-pharmacy program for two to three years, then a four-year pharmacy program, plus about one to two years of residency training.

Cleveland said he is not the only one who is touting the program. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the national public health agency for the entire United States — is planning on videotaping ISU's College of Pharmacy conference slated to take place April 29 at the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho in Nampa.

For more information about ISU College of Pharmacy, go to isu.edu/pharmacy.