CV NEWS FEED // California pharmacists must now complete mandatory training on gender identity, colonialism, and white privilege in order to remain licensed in their field.
According to a June 17 report from the Free Press, the mandated “cultural competency” courses went into effect earlier this year. Democratic Assemblyman Christopher Ward stated after passing the measure that it was to “ensure pharmacists are looking out for the well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals.”
The mandate requires California pharmacists to complete an hour of the training every two years, the report states.
In the training, professionals are instructed to begin customer interactions with a question about gender, and what pronouns the customer prefers.
One course, as the report notes, is titled: Caring for All: The Pharmacy Professional’s Role in LGBTQ+ Health and Equity and contains charts denoting possible “systems of oppression,” such as “sexism,” or “cis-sexism.”
One chart described in the report featured the “effects of colonialism and colonization on pre-colonial ways of being,” and further asserted that “racism creates race: otherness and whiteness.”
One pharmacist, identified in the Free Press report as “Joe” told the publication that “respecting all customers, no matter their race or sexual orientation, is a given,” adding: “To be a competent pharmacist, you need to know about medications, professional ethics, and the law. That’s it.”
However, one of the apologists and cultural competency course authors, Dr Tam Phan explained to the Free Press in his defense of the course that since pharmacists in California are now able to prescribe drugs such as hormonal contraceptives, HIV treatments, and other immunizations, “pharmacists should be knowledgeable of potential drug interactions between hormones being used in gender affirmation with the patient’s other medications.”
