Health And Wellness Society and Culture

Pharmacy preceptor and new grad establish their pharmacy as a safe place for the LGBTQ2+ community

Medi-Drugs Millcreek strives to be a pharmacy that not only respects a patient's identity but communicates in a way that shows appreciation and celebration of diversity. It works with its patients to support holistic wellness outcomes in an interprofessional setting, with shared values and streamlined services.

  • Kalyna Hennig
  • 28 January 2021

As the owner of two independent pharmacies, Aileen Jang (BSc Pharm 1983) spends her days ensuring her team has the tools they need to succeed and provide optimal care to their patients. After 37 years as a community pharmacist, she says she loves that her pharmacies are an integral part of the community.

“Our patients rely on the pharmacy for help and information and sometimes just some TLC,” says Jang. “We treat everyone that comes in the way we would want to be treated.”

Over the past few years, her Millcreek store—Medi-Drugs Millcreek, which has served its community for over 20 years—has established itself as an ally in the LGBTQ+ space, thanks to its pharmacy manager, Dylan Moulton (PharmD 2019).

Moulton met Jang when she was his preceptor during his fourth year PharmD rotation at the Medi-Drugs Clareview location. There, he completed a non-clinical pharmacy project to "revitalize" the Millcreek location, which included creating a business plan to implement some policy-based changes that would support a more inclusive space for all patients. By the end of the rotation, Jang was enthusiastic about the prospect and hired him to facilitate the program upon his graduation. 

Now, the pharmacy works closely with The Centre—Edmonton's new 2SLGBTQ+ Wellness Centre—that is adjacent to the Millcreek pharmacy. Moulton has made himself indispensable to The Centre with his skills, knowledge, and willingness to help.

“Medi Drugs Millcreek strives to be a pharmacy that not only respects a patient's identity but communicates in a way that shows appreciation and celebration of diversity,” says Moulton. “We work with our patients to support holistic wellness outcomes in an interprofessional setting with shared values and streamlined services.”

One of Moutlon’s favourite professional tasks is injection training with gender diverse patients. He says sharing such an empowering and long-anticipated moment with another person, like their first hormone injection, is a gift. 

“I get to practice in a community that is so amazingly diverse," says Moulton. "Having such a broad scope of practice in Alberta makes it that much easier as a professional to improve access to care and break down archaic health care barriers that serve no benefit to our patients.”