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| 2012: A New Year: Rants and Musings of a Retail Pharmacist |
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by The Redheaded Pharmacist - January 2, 2012
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Provided by The Redheaded Pharmacist
There’s nothing like the changing of the calendar to bring us all those feelings of optimism and hope. There is something about New Year’s Day that can bring a renewed positive outlook on life. And just as I do with my personal life, I hope for the best for the profession of pharmacy in this new year.
I’ve always enjoyed New Year’s Day. While I’m usually left wondering what happened to the previous year, I’m also generally optimistic about the future and excited about what’s in store in the coming year. There is this blind hope that seems to come over many people including myself as we look towards the future this time of year instead of focusing on the past.
And for the profession of pharmacy, a more forward thinking view might be prudent as we enter 2012. We’ve got a lot of challenges facing us that are critical to address. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will be working in volatile times in 2012. It’s important we’re up to the task of navigating these troubled waters.
But what can we expect out of our profession going forward? Will we continue to see the same challenges or will there be new threats to our existence? And how do we navigate these waters and stay afloat in what I consider troubling times. There are so many questions right now with few definitive answers.
My mind can’t help but develop a few general profession goals for the new year. This set of goals is not unlike those New Year’s Resolutions many of us make. But these professional goals would be appropriate for any time of year, not just the beginning of January. What should we focus on in 2012?
1. Get involved. I’ve renewed a membership with my state’s pharmacists association for this year. But it isn’t enough anymore simply to be a dues-paying member of a pharmacy organization. We need pharmacists and technicians who not only recognize how critical the times have gotten, but are also willing to get involved. And getting involved could mean anything from going to meetings, writing a letter to a politician, or simply talking about pharmacy issues with co-workers. Whatever the case may be, we need more doers in our profession.
2. Stay informed. Step one for us to do something about the challenges we face as a profession is to simply be aware of them in the first place. I think many of the pharmacists I see at work simply do their jobs and go home. They aren’t aware of the issues that could directly impact their profession or their individual jobs. Learning about what is going on within the profession is a big step towards helping to create positive change. Any way you can stay informed will better prepare you for the challenges we will face.
3. Remember the big picture. With all the things I do while on the job, the big picture of pharmacy can often get pushed to the background. In the end pharmacists exist to help patients manage the medication therapy aspect of their health and well being. Sure we have other jobs and our employers may require us to do many things. But filling prescriptions, counseling patients, and helping to ensure proper medication therapy is at the core of what we do as pharmacists. Everything else can be considered secondary functions.
4. Take time for yourself and your family. I am realizing more and more that to make it long term in the profession of pharmacy, I’ve got to get away from it all occasionally and have leisure time with family and friends. As my wedding day approaches, my focus will be on my future wife and our lives together and not work. Pharmacy can’t BE my life, it has to be one aspect of my life. That may seem funny coming from someone who writes about work in his spare time but it’s true. I’m realizing that finding a balance between work and life is as important to my career as anything else including drug knowledge or work ethic.
5. Notice and enjoy the good. There’s a lot of bad things related to the profession of pharmacy. Angry customers, insurance issues, bad employers, difficult co-workers, long hours, and the list goes on and on. Thinking about the negatives would scare away any potential pharmacy students and make most current pharmacists question their career choice. But there’s a lot of good within the profession of pharmacy as well. And recognizing that good can help you get through the bad. I’m going to try harder to look for the good in 2012.
6. Focus on the future. It’s easy for pharmacists to harp on the past. We can point to things like the advent of the $4 generic list as “the beginning of the end” as you’ll hear some of us say. But at this point in the life cycle of our profession, it’s pointless to focus on the past. We’ve got to look towards the future to make a difference and help create positive change. The past is over, and now it’s time to look and the present and especially the future.
I will stop this list now, although it could hardly be considered complete. Personally, I need to look at my own career and see where there’s room for improvement. I’m always looking for ways to become better at what I do for a living. And focusing on the above goals might help me in 2012!
Here’s to 2012 and the optimism and hope it brings for my own career and the profession of pharmacy in general. I hope everyone had a Happy New Year and Happy Holidays! Lets see what 2012 has in store for us.
The Redheaded Pharmacist
The Redheaded Pharmacist has been working full time in retail pharmacy for more than a decade. He is in his mid 30s, and, yes, he has red hair.
Disclaimer: This blog represents the opinions of the author and the author alone. It does not represent any pharmacy group or organization. I also will leave out or change the names of patients/customers to protect their privacy and comply with government regulations regarding patient privacy rights and personal information.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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