Self-medication Activities in a Community Pharmacy for Student Pharmacist Training.

: Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare published "the required function and the desired operating form of a pharmacy" and proposed that "a pharmacy should demonstrate a positive role for the promotion of self-medication". In the future, it will be indispensable to pharmacies that pharmacists play a role not only in dispensing medicine but also in serving a central health-station role in the community, including promoting the self-selection of proper OTC medications for the maintenance of health. My pharmacy in a traditional area in Tokyo carries OTC drugs, health and nursing care goods, medical supplies, etc. besides dispensing medicine by prescription. Moreover, a "sample measurement room" where a person can conduct a blood test by self-puncture was prepared in April of 2014. In addition, my pharmacy has held "health consultation meetings" for patients in collaboration with a registered dietitian, as well as "meetings for briefing sessions on how to better take or administer medicines" for parents of infants, etc. These activities have been useful to local residents in the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases and in promoting a better understanding of medicine. Moreover, on-site student trainees from schools of pharmacy are helping with planning, data collection, and explanation on the days of these meetings. For trainees from schools of pharmacy, participating in these activities is important to becoming a pharmacist trusted at the community level in the future.