Residents in Stockton battling diabetes have a new opportunity to take control of their chronic condition thanks to an innovative partnership between the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Community Medical Centers (CMC). The collaborative practice agreement with Kwabena O. Adubofour, MD, FACP, physician and internal medicine specialist, will empower Pacific pharmacy faculty and fellows to expand their scope of practice—they will have the authority to prescribe or adjust medications and order lab tests for diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia.

“Pharmacists are uniquely positioned to identify and address barriers to medication adherence,” said Rajul Arvind Patel ’01, ’06, PharmD, PhD, professor of pharmacy practice and director of Diabetes Care Clinics.

With 29 locations in San Joaquin and Solano, CMC serves more than 100,000 patients. The initial phase of this partnership is to embed pharmacists in a community-based clinic and allow those pharmacists to serve as providers by treating and managing those with poorly controlled diabetes.

“We hope that this novel partnership, the first time CMC is allowing pharmacist to serve as independent providers, continues to lay the groundwork for students to see what is possible as pharmacists and opportunities for the profession, while helping meet an urgent need in the community,” said Dr. Patel.

Faculty and fellows will have the unique opportunity to engage with patients over multiple visits, witnessing firsthand the impact of their interventions.

“Through this partnership, we will be able to titrate, initiate and monitor medications for patients, allowing us to optimize medication-related outcomes for patients with diabetes,” said Nareeta Sharma ’18, ’21, PharmD, MS, assistant clinical professor of pharmacy practice and program manager of Diabetes Care Clinics. “As medication experts, we can assess how all their medications are interacting with or complementing each other.”

Diabetes is a complex and challenging condition to manage, requiring continuous monitoring. Clinical guidelines are updated annually, reflecting the latest evidence-based practices. Effective management is crucial to prevent complications, improve the patient's quality of life and reduce the long-term burden on health care systems.

Students will assist with developing and monitoring a treatment plan tailored to the individual patient. Developing a rapport with patients will also give students insight into the challenges patients face, such as unreliable transportation or limited access to nutritious food, which can hinder adherence to treatment plans while highlighting broader social determinants of health.

Pacific faculty and students host community health clinics in high-priority neighborhoods in the community, raising awareness about diabetes while offering free health services and resources to support its management, including glucose monitors.

They also coordinate the Diabetes Prevention Program, a proactive approach to curbing diabetes developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This year-long lifestyle change program targets individuals with prediabetes or at high risk for developing diabetes and has been shown to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58%. Pacific is launching its third cohort of the Diabetes Prevention Program this month.

Doctor of pharmacy student Andre Dang ’26 experienced the profound effects of early intervention.

“I remember when a patient who returned for a follow-up screening showed notable health improvements—including a lower A1C level, lower blood pressure reading, lower total cholesterol and improved blood glucose levels,” he said. “They credited my recommendations, from a previous Diabetes Care Clinic a few months prior, for these improvements, indicating that my counseling had improved their health outcomes. Experiences like this are what continuously motivate me to serve my community.”

This initiative is made possible by the support of the Abbott Fund. Abbott’s Future Well™ Communities program is actively combating diabetes in Stockton through a three-pronged approach: awareness, prevention and treatment.