Pharmaceutical care for rural patients: ominous trends.

The findings of the Lake Superior Rural Cancer Care Project may be a harbinger of impeding shortages of pharmacists in most rural areas of the United States. Elderly patients, the population that is most reliant on medication, constitute a large portion of the citizens who are potentially underserved in terms of pharmaceutical care in rural areas. Education for rural practice is largely overlooked in current pharmacy curricula. The national pharmacy leadership must develop a sensible workforce policy that considers the needs of rural patients.