On January 1, 2023, pharmacists in Ontario were given authority to prescribe for minor ailments. Minor ailments are health conditions that can be managed with minimal treatment and/or self-care strategies. Research in this program of work is currently examining the initial uptake, implementation, and impact of pharmacist-delivered MA services in Ontario, as well as the relationship between pharmacists minor ailment services and attachment to Ontario family physicians.

particularly as scope expansion continues to progress in the province. Additional work is looking at

Please contact Mina Tadrous or Lisa Dolovich for more information on this program of work.

Selected Research Outputs:

Relieving the Pressure: Easing a strained health care system with minor ailments prescribing

This thought-provoking discussion will explore the growing role of pharmacists in prescribing for minor ailments, sharing real-world stories of how these services are relieving the pressure on a strained health care system. How is the public perception of pharmacists' roles changing? How can collaborative models between clinicians evolve to improve primary care delivery? Panellists will also discuss the challenges of implementing sustainable change in primary care and what it takes to strengthen connections among care providers from education to practice.

Listen to the podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/s5-e3-relieving-the-pressure-live/id1513040718?i=1000737396066

Shaping the Future of Minor Ailments Services: Innovation & Excellence Forum

On May 8th, 2025, the Network for Improving Health Systems (NIHS) at the University of Toronto - a collaboration between the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy - hosted pharmacists and policymakers to share, learn, and celebrate practice innovations dedicated to minor ailments services. This event strengthened existing relationships and built new relationships with policymakers. We also had the opportunity to recognize our pharmacist colleagues in Ontario who are demonstrating innovative approaches to delivering minor ailments services.

Read about our pharmacist innovations here: https://www.pharmacy.utoronto.ca/news-announcements/advancing-innovation-minor-ailments-care 

Research Projects:

Developing an Ontario community pharmacy-based Minor ailment service Evaluation framework (DOME)

Tadrous M, Abdul Aziz Y, Schwartz K, Nakhla N, McCarthy L, Dolovich L, Houle S, Grindrod K, Sibbald D, Ivers N, Langford B, Leung V, Morris A, Maximos M, Papastergiou J, Brown K, Daneman N Funding Source: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Funding Source: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Funding Period: June 2023

Funding Awarded: $49,875

Objective: To bring stakeholders together to (1) develop a set of aligned goals and priorities for the evaluation of the service in Ontario and (2) to co-identify objectives and think about how we would launch these important studies.

Early evaluation of the minor ailment prescribing service: Uptake, equity, and patient-provider experiences of the service of Ontario

Mina Tadrous, Kevin Schwartz, Ivers N, Abdul Aziz Y, Dolovich L, Lapointe-Shaw L, Nakhla N

Funding Source: Network for Improving Health Systems

Funding Period: July 2023 - December 2024

Funding Awarded: $73,875

Objective: This proposal will provide early real-world qualitative (major component) data based on engagement with pharmacists and patients to determine their valuations and experiences of the service thus far and data (quantitative (minor component) about patient uptake of the service over time and about whether the service is being provided equitably to all Ontarians.

Development of a theory-informed intervention to facilitate delivery of minor ailments services by community pharmacists 

Funding Source: Network for Improving Health Systems Trainee Award

Funding Period: September 2023 - August 2024

Funding Awarded: $25,000

Trainee: Daphne To (PhD at IHPME)

Graduate Supervisors: Prof. Noah Ivers and Prof. Mina Tadrous

Utilization of Minor Ailments and relationship to primary care attachment and patient outcomes

Dolovich, L, Paul Nguyen,Yasmin Abdul Aziz, , Mina Tadrous, Eliot Frymire, Ernie Avilla, Annalise Mathers, Rick Glazier, Premji K, Jaakkimainen L, Kiran T, Lynn Roberts, Green ME

Period of Funding: November 2023-March 2024 

Funding Source: Ontario Ministry of Health, Innovations Strengthening Primary Health Care Through Research (INSPIRE-PHC)

Funding Awarded: $66,304.5 as a core funded project of INSPIRE-PHC $15,625 (University of Toronto) and $50,679.50 (Queen’s University)

Objective: This body of work will aim to better understand the overall MA utilization and relationship to primary care attachment and the patient care journey through the health care system including effect on health care service utilization. The work will explore the patient trajectory before and after receiving a MA service and how this differs amongst patient groups by attachment status.

Evaluation of pharmacist prescribing of topical products

Drucker A, Tadrous M. Nardine Nakhla, Debra Sibbald, Liisa Jaakkimainen

Funding Period: January 2024 - July 2025

Funding Awarded: $75,000

Funding Source: Network for Improving Health Systems

Objective: This proposal will provide early real-world data about pharmacist prescribing of topical treatments, compare the prescribing of these products to current physician practices and better understand in whom prescribing varies.

Pharmacy team delivery of MA and relationship to the health care system

Mina Tadrous, Tara Gomes

Funding Source: Ontario Ministry of Health, Ontario Drug Policy Research Network

Funding Period: proposed to the Ontario Ministry of Health for April 2024 onwards

Funding Awarded: Core funding through ODPRN

Objective: This project will focus on pharmacy characteristics and clustering of minor ailment offerings. This work will leverage newly attached OCP data to better understand the level of clustering and which pharmacies are offering minor ailments. It will also explore pharmacy and pharmacist characteristics associated with offering the treatments.

Access to Minor ailments on system-level healthcare utilization

Mina Tadrous, Tara Gomes

Funding Period: Proposed to the Ontario Ministry of Health for April 2024 onwards
Funding Awarded: Core funding through ODPRN
Funding Source: Ontario Ministry of Health, Ontario Drug Policy Research Network
Objective: This project will leverage a time-series design to describe the overall uptake of MA services overall and stratified by patient characteristics (ex. Sex, age, rurality, region, pharmacy size) and minor ailment. We will also explore the impact of MA service on overall health system utilization (ex. ED visits and physician visits)

Previous Research: The Ontario Program To Improve AntiMicrobial USE (OPTIMISE): Generating knowledge from patients, pharmacists and physicians to support the implementation of expanding the scope of pharmacist antibiotic prescribing

Schwartz, K (co-PI), Desveaux, L (co-PI), Tadrous, M (co-PI), Lum-Wilson, N, Nicholas Angl, E, Alloo, J, Brown K, Daneman N, Garber GE, Ivers N, Langford B, Morris A, Nakhla N, Rosenberg-Yunger Z.

Funding Awarded: $98,000
Funding Source: Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Lead Institution: Public Health Ontario
Objective: To study the types of behaviours associated with pharmacists prescribing and antibiotic only when needed.