"She received her B.Pharm and her M.Sc. in community pharmacy at the Université de Montréal. Mrs Lamarre is an apostle of pharmaceutical care and of the opinion and refusal, for which she preaches the use of in the continuous training she dispenses to pharmacists as well as in the courses she gives at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Université de Montréal. Since September 2004, she has been participating in a daily television show dealing with various health issues. Furthermore, she has been involved in Pharmacists Without Borders since 1998 and has thus participated in various missions to help victims of war. Mrs Lamarre has been a pharmacist proprietor since 1990 and has been an administrator at the Order of the Pharmacists of Quebec since 1987. She also presides one year out of two on the Combined Committee College of Doctors - Order of the Pharmacists of Québec. She has received many honours: Patient Care Award (Pharmacy Practice 1995), International Leadership Prize 2002, Honorary member of the Association of Pharmacists of Kosovo 2003 and has also won numerous teaching prizes at the University of Montreal."
The practice of pharmacy has its strengths and weaknesses and is strictly regulated. However, what are the laws of pharmacy used for and are they really necessary? Should a drug be considered as a tool to help humanity or as a consumer good similar to any other? Realities from here and from around the world as well as observations in countries that have experienced war allow us to better evaluate the roles and the values of the laws of pharmacy that regulate the practice of the profession.
We don’t necessarily need to make a trip to the Third World in order to help those in need. Many gestures on a smaller scale can generate big changes. How can a pharmacist practice humanitarian aid on a daily basis in his or her neighbourhood? What is our social goal, our mission as a consultant for physicians and for the general population? Is it worthwhile to invest so much energy in our profession? How can we obtain the professional fulfillment that is necessary for our profession to be satisfying on a long term course?