Published on January 27, 2016 by Jimmy Lichtenwalter  
Anthony Bolus

What began five years ago as a research project has grown into a passion and a weekly part-time commitment for Anthony Bolus. 

In addition to his career as a full-time pharmacist and clinical coordinator at Family Medical Services in Bessemer, Alabama, Bolus also hosts Healthy Dose, a weekly pharmacy-centered radio show on Samford University’s radio station WVSU-FM. The show airs at 5 p.m. CST on Tuesdays. 

“I join two of my favorite things: pharmacy and radio,” he said. 

Bolus graduated from Samford’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy in 2013. While he was still a student and working for WVSU, he created Healthy Dose for a project and ran the show for two years. 

Since graduating, Bolus secured the rights and trademark to his program and offered Samford a chance to be part of the show. The university made an agreement with him for a year’s worth of weekly shows. Healthy Dose began airing again on WVSU in October 2015 and has been aired weekly since. 

“Every program, I’m showcasing different disease states and covering new things pharmacists are doing beyond filling prescriptions,” Bolus said. “I’m just trying to create awareness of the profession. I want to let legislators and regular people know who pharmacists are and what they do.” 

Bolus uses his connections at McWhorter School of Pharmacy for his show, often featuring the school’s professors and their research on Healthy Dose. 

“The professors get to showcase themselves, the school and Samford University overall,” Bolus said. “It is helping in all factors.” 

Each show runs 5–10 minutes. While Bolus works with Andy Parrish, WVSU’s general manager, he is the program’s host, producer, editor and creator. Healthy Dose has been featured on Birmingham’s CBS affiliate and in B-Metro magazine. 

While Healthy Dose is now just a hobby for Bolus, he is interested in seeing how far he can take the show. 

“I’d really like to send it out nationally,” he said. “This is shooting for the stars, but I’d love NPR or something to pick it up.” 

According to Bolus, his purpose for producing the show is to help his listeners with three things: understand what a specific disease state is about, learn what pharmacists can do beyond filling prescriptions, and how to be healthier and live better lives. 

“If I have affected one person who has made a change for the better, I’ll be happy,” Bolus said.

Jimmy Lichtenwalter is a journalism and mass communication major and a news and feature writer in the Office of Marketing and Communication.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.