What do you do? This question was posed to me by my nephson’s 14-year-old friends—Cal Conner, Nick Zinni, and Roman Mykyta—as I drove them home from a get-together with Alex at our house.
It seems like a simple question. But after I shared a little bit about my work at APhA, it got me thinking. How would the people who read this blog answer that question simply and accurately enough that an eighth grader would understand?
It’s not good enough to say “I’m a pharmacist.” You could get away with it, but would it really answer the question? Or would it perpetuate the questioning kid’s own own inaccurate impression of what pharmacists do? Remember, that kid will be voting in 4 years!
APhA uses the tagline, “Improving medication use, advancing patient care.” Whether in education, advocacy, or information provision, to a large degree, that phrase nails what my work at APhA entails. But 14-year-olds need a little more and need it simple if they are really going to get it.
So, as we start the new year, I”m issuing a challenge to all of you. In 300 words or less (about the number of words in this blog), describe what you do as a practicing pharmacist in language simple enough for an eighth grader. The only rule is that you, the pharmacist, must be describing a pharmacist’s role with direct patient care. You can simply write your description as a reply to this blog. I’ll come up with a suitable prize in the next week or so, and I’ll ask APhA’s staff personnel committee, made up largely of “nonpharmacists,” to be the judges together with my new focus group of middle school kids. Your deadline is January 15.
Happy New Year!
Pharmacists have two major roles to play. The primary role is to provide direct care to patients, especially as it relates to drug therapy. A second but very important role is to deliver medication use education to the public, all other health care providers and to those entering the profession.
I am proud to be a pharmacist because today I can practice my profession in collaboration with all health care providers. My chosen profession allows me to accept responsibility for achieving the best possible outcomes for my patient when he or she is in contact with the medication use systems. That means that I advocate vigorously to prescribers and the health system for my patients in order for them to have timely and convenient access to appropriate drug therapy and medication use. My responsibility includes the documentation of the expected outcomes as well as those actually experienced when drugs are prescribed, dispensed or administered. If drug therapy is not a selected part of the treatment plan I also have the responsibility to document the reasons for that decision and the patient must understand that reasoning.
My professional expertise grows and is best maintained by being an active member of our professional society and by participating as a mentor/ educator for my colleagues, aspiring pharmacists and as a active education resource directed to all health providers and the public.
I fill prescriptions written by Drs. I check to make sure the prescriptions written do not interract with any other medication currently taken. I explain the benefits and side effects of the medications to the patient. I give them an opportunity to ask me any questions the may have regarding the medications. I also spend a lot of times on the floor talking to patients about over the counter medications. I fisrt asked them of what they have done for the problem and/or ilness. I asked them if what they have done worked.
If yes, and it is a minor problem, I tell them to continue. If no, I give them ideas of what to do. At times there is nothing OTC. Then I refer them to see a Dr. My most satisfying part of my job is being a preceptor. I have been mentoring and shaping pharmacy students, at about 3 pharmacy students per year, for the last 12 years or so. I compound prescriptions (putting together prescription by getting 2 or more items to make one item that does not exist in the market) regularly. I am also a cashier, counselor, advisor, conflict resolver and wear many other hats as part of my job.
Thanks to the two comments we’ve received so far. Both descriptions are excellent.
We’re going to extend the “contest” through the weekend and will send a complimentary copy of The Practitioner’s Quick Reference to Nonprescription Drugs to the comments that best describe what pharmacists in terms 8th graders will understand.
The book contains information from the APhA’s comprehensive Handbook of Nonprescription Drugs: An Interactive Approach to Self-Care, 16th edition. Information has been edited and formatted to include only the content that practitioners are most likely to need during self-care consultations with patients. The book covers 25 common self-treatable conditions including acne, common cold, cough, fever, and headache. The Practitioner’s Quick Reference to Nonprescription Drugs is a must-have resource for busy health practitioners.
So, let us know!! What do you do?
I am a first-year student-pharmacist who is not qualified (yet) to directly answer the prompt of this blog post. Instead I’ll defer to the BLS K-12 Career Guide:
“Pharmacists give medicine to people when a doctor says that they need it. They tell people how to use the medicine correctly.
Pharmacists are experts in medicine and its side effects. They sometimes help doctors choose which medicines to give patients. Pharmacists also warn doctors if the doctors have asked their patients to take any medicine that might hurt their patients.
Sometimes, pharmacists mix the medicine themselves. Most often, though, they use medicines that are already made.
Pharmacists most often work in drug stores. These stores are clean and have a lot of light. Many pharmacists must stand while they work. Pharmacists must wear gloves and masks when they work with dangerous chemicals. Some pharmacists work at night or on weekends. This is because sick people may need medicine at any time. Most pharmacists work about 40 hours a week, but some work longer hours.”
If that entry is too simple for your 8th grade audience you might refer them to the Occupational Outlook Handbook entry for pharmacists at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm
A pharmacist is often the face of patient care in ways no other medical professional can accomplish. On a daily basis they may see their patients and identify problems or symptoms that a formal meeting with a doctor may not divulge. Pharmacists have evolved to become an essential part of the therapy management of patients. It is not too out of the question to envision a day in which doctors diagnosis and pharmacists dictate the treatment. Today we are currently on the evolutionary path towards that future description. Equally important is that the pharmacist is often the last line of defense, to borrow a military phrase, in patient care. Pharmacists are often the one’s who find the last errors in treatment and/or have to relay such information in layman’s terms to the patient.
The problem with definition specifically the role of a pharmacist today is that there is no specific definition. The last fifteen years have seen the profession grow into areas that were not even dreamt of in the past. One can see, in some ways, where the profession the role is going and how important it will become in the future, but we are not there yet. In a lot of ways, pharmacists are in a transitional phase of their importance in patient care. Gone are the days when pharmacists merely counted by fives on a daily basis. Today pharmacists often, as previously mentioned, dictate the course of therapy in patient care. More and more often pharmacists are looked at by doctors not only as their equal, but part of their arsenal in patient treatment.
Thus, it is difficult to state within 300 words what a pharmacists specifically does. When this evolution is finally complete, perhaps this maybe so, but today it is not possible. As I posted just a few days ago, the public needs to be aware of what pharmacists can offer in twenty-first century healthcare as the perception of pharmacists is grossly incorrect. The problem is nailing down a specific definition that is relate-able to the common man.
I look forward to hearing other suggestions on how to adequately describe the role of a pharmacist in daily life.
Pharmacists help people get well, stay healthy, feel better, and save money. We help people safely use vaccines that prevent infections, medicines that cure diseases or prevent them from getting worse, and vitamins, supplements or special foods to improve health and wellness. But most importantly, we’re near your home, easy to talk to, good at answering questions, and care about you and your family.