Instruction: Students are to write a professional memo to talk about an issue, problem, promotion,
idea, etc., no more than 1 page (3-4 paragraphs). Goal is to practice addressing a topic to other
healthcare providers or colleagues to communicate the intended message. Categories of memos
maybe informative, persuasive, or negative. Check for grammar, tone, and spelling errors. Prepare to
present and share in class and with short discussion. PLEASE MAKE UP THE NAMES OF PHYSICIAN,
NURSE PRACTIONERS, NURSES, ETC TO WHOM YOU ARE ADDRESSING.
Suggested Topics: or whatever you have in mind. Keep it classy and professional (PG)
- To a physician: regarding a drug shortage (choose from top 200 drug names) and that the drug
is not available until (blank) months later. What is it used for? Why is there a shortage (i.e
production, ingredient shortage, etc)? Name the manufacturer company if you know? Give
your alternatives if you know drug of same classification? What is the solution? What will the
impact to patients and the pharmacy? - To pharmacy staff: employee discipline for unprofessional conduct with a patient. Describe the
situation. Provide resolutions? Any disciplinary action? What is the policy and procedure of the
company? How is it going to be managed and monitored? - To a nurse practitioner: stating that a patient is going on vacation in a month and would like to
have a refill a medication earlier (choose from top 200 drug names). Is insurance involved?
Describe the importance. Does the patient need to see seen for refill? Does the MD need to be
involved for insurance approvals for early fills? - To a physician: patient is doing well on the medications (choose from top 200 drug names) and
pharmacist will continue to update with progress. Describe why and what is going on. How is
the patient doing? What is going well? What needs to be improved? What can you monitor? - To the pharmacy staff: drug recall (choose from top 200 drug names) and to remove all items
from shelves. What is it used for? Why is there a shortage (i.e production, ingredient shortage,
etc)? Name the manufacturer company if you know? Give your alternatives if you know drug of
same classification? What is the solution? What will the impact to patients and the pharmacy? - To a physician: patient had a bad drug interaction with a medication (choose from top 200 drug
names) would need to change the medication. Describe the situation. When, how, why did it
happen? What did the patient do? Is it an emergency? What did the pharmacist do? Describe
the interaction that occured. - To a physician assistant: drug error had occurred, pharmacist dispensed the wrong drug (choose
from top 200 drug names). Describe the situation and why did it occur. What adverse effect, if
any, occurred? What is the solution? Was the patient contacted? Was the patient hurt or
affected? What did the patient do? How is it going to be handled to remedy the situation? - To a pharmacy staff: a new hire and welcoming support. Who and what position is this new
hire for? What will be the new responsibilities of this new person? Will there be any changes to
the operations? Who does this person report to? - To a nurse: to contact a patient regarding proper wound care. Describe the situation. Is it an
emergency? Is there an infection? What is the degree of the wound? Does it need immediate
attention? What did the patient used? How is it being cared for now? What happened and
why? - To a patient: haven’t seen them in couple months for a refill (choose from top 200 drug names).
Why is compliance important? What can happen if the medication is not taken? What can the
patient do? Who can they contact? How soon do they need to do this? - To a patient: welcoming them to the pharmacy and introducing your services. What services
does your pharmacy provide? What are the hours? Who to contact in emergency? For
afterhours? How can you help with their medication therapy? What are the challenges? What
are the advantageous that you can provide? How is this pharmacy different than others? - To the CFO: Inform that drug cost will increase next quarter due to increase in manufacturing
expenses, etc. Why is there an increase, what are the reasons why? What is the pharmacy
doing to help reduce cost? How does it impact patient care? Who is affected? Are there
alternatives to the drugs that are high priced? - To pharmacy staff: employee termination from being late. Describe the situation. What are the
disciplinary actions to take? Are there any legal actions? What are the policies? Set an
example for others not to follow? - To physician offices: regarding change in pharmacy hours and/or holiday hours. Describe the
situation. What brought about this change? What happens afterhours? Who to contact for
emergencies? Who is affected? - To a patient: there is a drug recall for (choose from top 200 drug names) and to contact the
pharmacy. What should the patient do? Who should be contacted? Is there a replacement or
substitution in the meantime? What are the effects, if any, should the patient be aware of?
When? How soon? What is it used for? Why is there a shortage (i.e production, ingredient
shortage, etc)? Name the manufacturer company if you know? Give your alternatives if you
know drug of same classification? What is the solution? What will the impact to patients and
the pharmacy? - To a nurse: patient is not compliant with medication (choose from top 200 drug names) and
needs a physician appointment to reassess. Describe the situation. What condition is the
patient in? How extensive and important is the situation? What is the patient feeling or doing?
What are the reasons? What is the time frame? - To pharmacy staff: an employee termination for stealing meds. Describe the situation. What
are the disciplinary actions to take? Are there any legal actions? What are the policies? Set an
example for others not to follow? - To pharmacy staff: a pharmacist promotion to a supervisor position. What brought about this
promotion? Why did this pharmacist deserve the promotion? How long has the pharmacist
worked? What are the good things about it? Should other model this behavior?
Required components: - Memo title/subject heading
- Salutation (Mr, Mrs., Dr. etc)
- Topic sentence
- Supporting evidence
- Clear statement of your request or inquiry or action needed
- Sign-off (closing salutation)
- Signature
Components: Professional Memo Content
points
Formatting
points
Memo Title (email subject):
• Adequately states the nature of the memo.
o Do not give titles such as “Hi,” “A question,” “Here you go,” “Please
read,” etc.
• No more than 10 words (recommended length: 3-5 words)
• No confidential information
o Do not write email titles such as “Ace A. Student receives grade of F”
• Properly capitalized—acceptable to title it like a book title (e.g., “Curriculum
Recommendation for the Faculty”) or like a sentence (e.g., “Curriculum
recommendation to the faculty”)
• Do not mix capitalization styles (e.g., “Curriculum Recommendation for the
faculty”)
Salutation:
• Professional greeting phrase or word, such as Hello, Dear, Good afternoon
o Do not use colloquial greetings such as Yo, What’s up, Hey
• Punctuate the salutation with a comma or a colon
• Refer to the recipient of the memo as his or her last name with the job title,
such as Professor Nguyen, Dr. Jones, Director Takagi, Counselor Smith
o If unsure of job title, use Mr. or Ms.
Topic Sentence:
• Topic sentence must adequately introduce the request or inquiry
o Assume the topic sentence is the only sentence the recipient will read
• Get to the point. Do not use attention-baiting tactics, such as “What
happened to the patient will shock you,” or “This one unusual medicine
could save your patient’s life”
Components: Professional Memo Content
points
Formatting
points
• Topic sentence must be either the 1st or 2nd sentence of the memo.
• You may use the the 1st sentence to briefly introduce who you are, if the
recipient does not know you well, or does not know you at all.
o For example, if contacting a physician about an inappropriate
prescription, describe yourself as a student-intern at the pharmacy
Supporting Evidence:
• Minimum 2 sentences
• Clarify or expand on the situation you introduced in the topic sentence
• Use logical, factual sentences
o Do not assume the recipient will automatically see the value of your
request or inquiry
o Do assume the recipient will fact-check your memo to evaluate you or
to find reasons not to give you what you request;
o For example, if you ask a medical question to a physician and the
answer can be found in a book, that physician has now formed a
negative opinion on your credibility and might not feel inclined to take
your request seriously
Clear Statement of Your Request or Inquiry, or action needed
• Finish your memo with a clear statement of what you want the recipient to
do
• Clearly state actionable next steps, e.g., “Please attach the file,” “Please call
me so we can discuss the medication,” “Please add Ace A. Student to your
records”
• Do not leave vague or abstract next steps, e.g., “Let me know anything that
might be helpful”—do assume that absence of clearly-stated next steps is an
excuse to ignore your inquiry or request
• Do not use a tentative tone, e.g., “If you could perhaps think about looking
into…"
• Acceptable if this presents no (or very little) no information—it is helpful to
sum up
• Can be final or second-to-last sentence of the memo
Sign-off (closing salutation)
• Let the reader know the memo has ended with a warm sign-off phrase such
as Thank you, Sincerely, Best regards, etc.
o Do not use colloquial sign-off phrases such as Peace out, Ciao, etc.
• The sign-off phrase must be its own line
• The sign-off phrase must end with a comma
• The sign-off phrase must be followed with a whole blank line above and
below
Signature:
• First line is your full name with your degree titles, such as Henry Hua, PhD
or Ace A. Student, BA
• Second line is the job position in which you are writing this memo, such as
PharmD Candidate, Class of 2021 or Intern Pharmacist,
o Use title-style capitalization (e.g., Intern Pharmacist), not sentencestyle capitalization (e.g., Intern pharmacist)
• Include at least 1 line for the company or institution which you are
representing in this memo, such as St. Jude Children’s Hospital,
o Acceptable to use 2 lines if there is a larger organization that houses
your company or institution, such as:
Components: Professional Memo Content
points
Formatting
points
School of Pharmacy
American University of Health Sciences
Or:
Department of Oncology
St. Jude Children’s Hospital
• Include the address of the institution you listed above
• Include your email address
• Include your phone number
Total Points (maximum: 14)