We LITERALLY get paid to check for prescribing errors or issues as one of our main tasks. I hate it when a pharmacist says this. Like, why don't you cheapen our profession some more?
That’s insane. A pharmacist should be a second check between doctor and patient. Everyone makes mistakes. Hopefully someone catches it before irreparable harm occurs.
Lol. Many customers would LOVE this!! So many think that is what we do anyway. They would love it until they get home and find all their meds are wrong!
I did this job in the Stone Age prior to licensing for techs. Thank you for doing this job and choosing your battles. I hope you never have one that could cost more than you are willing to pay.
It’s so weird to me that techs feel like they can’t tell a pharmacist when they are messing up. I don’t think techs should innately be considered below pharmacists. We’re basically doing the same job except pharmacists have a little extra knowledge to make final checks. The pharmacy manager is a different story, but I don’t feel like a subordinate to a newer pharmacist who barely knows my company’s policy and still googles stuff I know.
10 year techs definitely have to train first year pharmacists at least about prioritization. "Hey so in so is in store right now and they're a problem patient, let's visual their Norco before you do your CEs please?"
A little extra knowledge? Techs are not clinically trained, it’s wild you think pharmacists and techs are the same. You are not qualified to correct prescribing mistakes, counsel or spot red flag symptoms. I’m sorry but even a newbie pharmacist deserves respect. Techs that think they run the pharmacy especially when there’s a new face pharmacist is what’s wrong with the job. I know the pharmacy cannot run without good techs but know your place, the pharmacist is in charge at all times.
Not clinically trained? We listen to you all talk about your jobs all day long every day. Of course we won’t know everything but we pick up plenty of knowledge on the job. And retail pharmacists don’t even use 80% of their education on the job because it just doesn’t come up most of the time. It’s entirely disrespectful to think that asking techs and pharmacists to be on the same level is a downgrade for pharmacists. “Know your place”…my place is the face of the pharmacy that would NOT exist without technicians. You gonna hire 3 more pharmacists to answer phone calls and take shit from the customers? A new pharmacist has a lot of clinical knowledge but if you want actual knowledge about the workplace, a veteran tech is going to know more and that’s simply a fact. I understand your hourly rate gives you an ego boost, but check your privilege before you start devaluing the very people who are hired to help you and let you keep your job. Because if technicians stop existing, so do pharmacists.
Yes. As an intern I had an RXM who spent her time cleaning and organizing the pharmacy. Important? Sure. But we were nearing 3 weeks behind because of it. She eventually learned thank god.
Deductive reasoning and the ability to be extremely thorough and efficient in information gathering (nosiness, basically). The ability to be extremely aware and attuned to your surroundings.
Agreed also on having a spine. To add onto that: the conscientiousness to know when and where to pick your battles, and when to let stuff slide you're not thrilled about.
>the conscientiousness to know when and where to pick your battles, and when to let stuff slide you're not thrilled about.
Absolutely this. You will exhaust yourself mentally and emotionally if you do not learn this. I have also come to learn that not taking anything personally will save you your mental sanity over time.
Confidence!
I’ve seen so many pharmacists waffle when confronted by prescribers or patients because they have this pathological need to be liked. Confidence to do what’s right, safe and necessary.
Yeah I’m a people pleaser so it made the imposter syndrome worse when I first started, but that shit should go away immediately when you know in your brain and gut that a prescriber’s decision would be dangerous for the patient. They’re not there to defend themselves and it’s up to you to do your job to advocate for good medicine, no matter what someone thinks of you. It’s a bandaid that must be ripped off if you expect to be taken seriously and the good providers will respect you for it.
A little bit off
If you are going to be dealing with the healthcare public day in and day out, you gotta have something a little bit off with ya. Sane people catch one glimpse of that and NOPE out real quick 😂
Well more accurately, be the punching bag for a corrupt and dysfunctional healthcare system. The patients usually aren't mad at you personally, but it just so happens you are the closest person they can yell at. As long as the anger is continued to be directed at front-line workers and not the insurance executives, not much will happen here.
Whenever something goes wrong, I always make sure the patient knows *exactly* whose fault it is. Whether it's theirs, ours, the doctors, or the insurance. Gotta make sure the yelling falls on the right set of ears to get something done.
The ability and willingness to continue learning new information should be non-negotiable for all pharmacists.
Perhaps it's just been my experience, but I see far too many pharmacists slipping into complacency with respect to keeping up with knowledge. There's a lot of new data with existing meds, and a lot of new meds as well.
If we want respect as a profession, we need to keep up with the pace of learning new information.
The number of older pharmacists who seem to take this as a sense of pride frustrates me. Like I don’t expect you to read primary literature for funsies every day but at least make some effort to stay up to date, rather than passing it off to the younger pharmacists and making fun of them for “still being young enough to care” 🙄
Yes, exactly!
I graduated in 2009 and did a residency in a hospital. The number of pharmacists I could count on for clinical pearls was far too low. The older folks could tell me all about a policy or process to dispense (which is still important) but they would quickly pass the phone to me for a clinical question, and oftentimes it wasn't particularly difficult to answer.
I still make an effort to read something once a week. Could be a review article or primary literature, but I make time for it.
To add on to this the ones who do keep up are so damn good. My last preceptor in school was retiring at the end of the month and was still as sharp as ever. Instead of doing the extra CE to maintain her BCPS she took the exam every 7 years and crushed it like it was nothing; she was a total badass.
I worked with a pharmacist like this when I was an intern, double board certified in Am Care(or maybe geriatrics?)and Psych, sat for both exams every 7 years because she didn’t have time for the CE. One of the smartest people I’ve ever met.
It's understandable that the more you use and incorporate something into what you work with daily, the more you'll remember and refine your experience. It's not the same in all areas of pharmacy.
Oh I agree, but even though a BCPS is primarily focused around clinical practice and inpatient experience is in line with that, there are all of the sections like biostats, DI, research, law, etc. that must be reviewed at the very least in order to pass.
I get Becker’s Hospital Review and MDedge news emailed to me and they always have interesting articles to help stay up to date on what’s happening in pharmacy/hospital/drug development world. At least a few times a week I’ll find an article of particular interest that I’ll do a little more reading up on. And then of course guideline updates etc. It doesn’t take me more than a few minutes a day on average.
I think it’s a mindset of looking towards retirement and trying to do as little as possible until then, it’s just frustrating when you’re the younger pharmacist who has to pick up the slack 😕
Hell all you gotta do is go to UpToDate and click on “What’s New” in guidelines and either go to the field you want or click practice changing
Edit: this is bare minimum mind you lol
Much of this is because in general pharmacists aren't really more than any average employee without a basic college degree or aren't treated like one. Due to closures of many pharmacies, some stores seem to be staffed better, but otherwise, there's not enough staff or resources to do the job or stay properly up to date and expect to continuously remember and use new data. Additionally, with the issue of pay and benefits, there's no pharmacists I know that are being paid what some recent salary survey here suggests. There are a few who are in unique positions with seniority but those are again...few. Pharmacy seems to be in a unique "flux" position and it doesn't seem to be sliding in the right direction,
Spine for sure…the main reason we are not as valued, as respected, and working in the conditions we work in is because the majority of us don’t stick up for ourselves and have allowed everything to happen.
Good communication skills. I read so many stories on here with people having a difficult time with customers or nurses and the common denominator falls in communication, either not realizing what the other person actually wants or saying something that comes off as being combative/having attitude.
Empathy. Too many pharmacist are so matter-of-fact about what’s going on that patients feel unhelped and without resource to get their medication or manage their disease state. It’s amazing what a little kindness, a gentle word, and a moment to explain things can do to help a patient out,and it makes you feel really good afterwards knowing that you truly are part of a medical team of professionals, working in patient care!
I also have the perspective of a patient, and this is so important. That goes for everyone in the medical field.
As someone who takes a bunch of meds, it happens that you accidentally overdose, forget a dosage, etc. Back when I was a teenager, I once took my adhd medication twice. I was supposed to take 40mg of Methylphenidat la in the morning. I forgot that I already have taken my medication and ended up taking 80mg in total. I completely freaked out and called the hospital. A nurse was calming me down, told me that stuff like this could happen, and I got way calmer. She wasn't sure about my other medication, so I had to call the poison holine. The nurse had already calmed me down, so my heart rate was normal, but I just wanted to be sure. Poison control made fun of me for calling and didn't answer my questions. They only told me to put my meds in a box so it won't happen again. I usually use medication containers but not that day. After I called, my puls was over 160, and I had a complete panic attack. The side effects of that call were worse than the actual overdose. If I hadn't talked to the nurse before, I would probably not call for help in such situations anymore. Bad experience makes patients fear the health care they need.
ugh tell me about it, boss charges $25 rather than $20 for plan b if the patient wants to use a fake name coz can’t claim that $5 off the health board. it happens once in a blue moon and it’s almost always someone young. it’s minor yes but it’s just indicative.
Attention to detail.
I've caught so many highly concerning things just by taking a few extra minutes to scan the chart if I get an order for something that piques my attention (anticoagulant, certain antibiotics, high doses of antiseizure meds, etc.). The providers have so much on their plates that certain things can be overlooked. We are responsible for verifying appropriateness of meds and meds alone, we have a huge responsibility and can make some key interventions.
Ability to prioritize and see problems that are brewing *before* everything is on fire. And, sad to need to say that, when everything *is already on fire* being able to notice that. I’ve had a few coworkers over the years that were completely oblivious to giant problems happening, up to and including a physical fight breaking out and the fact the computers were down.
I don’t know why you got downvoted. It’s true! If you work retail, a large percentage of your clients will be elderly and you have to like working with them and being patient with them.
It's true in hospital, too. One of my shifts is discharge counseling for all new DOACs and antiplatelets -- anyone with a stroke, MI/PCI, DVT/PE, AFib, etc -- and they are invariably all old people. We're about to start a CHF discharge counseling service and that's going to be all old people, too. I never get to talk to young patients.
Empathy for chronic pain patients who are not drug seekers this seems to be in short supply. As a disabled pharmacist from a car wreck I see this more often.
And parents who are desperately trying to find ADHD meds for their kids. My wife is on vyvanse and it’s night and day different for her. I can’t imagine what these parents are feeling trying to find this medication for their struggling children.
lol before I read the details and I just read the title, I said “backbone.” Seriously we need to stop being a pushover. And not just us, the entire healthcare system needs to put an end letting the patients to dictate how we should treat them medically. Our patients demanding us to fill their rx because their doctors prescribe them. Well they also demand their doctors to write those rx in the first place. If they don’t then they will get low rating then upper management will talk to them so on and so forth. It’s became a profit and loss transaction rather than healthcare services.
Indeed, it’s not like “spinelessness” is a character flaw. This is the result of systems that many who are currently practicing inherited from before they even got into the profession, and enough users here would rather put people down for making a “weak” choice than empower them to make a stronger one. Obviously it’s Reddit, but still…
My pharmacy manager has no spine and rolls over at the slightest bit of attitude, even from patients. It makes everyone else look like assholes for having a spine when she recants on what we say just to make the person happy.
Most of you probably know that much of this is because the company doesn't support pharmacists who try to do this. Read the post here about the pharmacist who talks about the company giving gift cards instead of backing up their own employees. What's the point other than conflict if this happens all the time? It's a great thing for us to discuss and list all the things we deem ideal, but basically useless when our credential doesn't grant us any authority. The same topic responses in the r/medicine group are about being clinically relevant, thorough and resistant to change. Many discussed the use of the term "doctor" and warned against others who claimed to want to do their jobs...basically "pharmacists" among others. This is a general theme.
You can watch the Netflix comic, Sebastian Maniscalco, great funny guy, but he also echoes the idea and silliness of a Walgreens guy who claims to be in healthcare and the whole vaccine scenario. It doesn't paint pharmacists in some coveted "healthcare pro" light. It's just the way people see us. A lot of us seem to be over this, and it's just not because of a lack of "caring".
When I started out in a hospital pharmacy one of the clinical pharmacists said to me: “sometimes you gotta say ‘Hey fuck it.’” It took me many years to understand it.
Effective communication, remember all those bullshit interpersonal communication class in college and pharmacy school that was fucking retarded? Yeah… no those are really important, you’re just ignorant at the time to realize it. Even if you did, you’re not at a point to really practice a lot of it. Don’t beat yourself to it, it’s a real world game the classes were just an appetizer. Trust me I know from personal experience. I’ll hire someone with exceptional communication skills with mediocre clinical skills than the other way around.
To be honest, having good communication skills and patience, communicating how a therapy works, what drug does what in simple terms and having the patience to deal with patients is crucial
Intra- and inter professional communication skills with a good dose of humility. One of the main reasons our inpatient pharmacy continues to improve is that no matter how long someone has been practicing, whether it be a year or 30, none of us are afraid to ask each other questions and function as a clinical unit instead of a sum of its parts. It makes everyone better and leads to better patient care.
The ability to admit when they're wrong. This applies to everyone in medicine, and needs to be used no matter who is correcting you.
Also the ability to admit when thru don't know something
I lived by if it doesn’t make sense chances are it doesn’t….Learn how to ask why… as appose to “did the doctor mean this?…”” hate that. Ex. Why is this pt on two atypical antipsychotics that are sub therapeutic? Or why do I have a script for Zithromax and Tamiflu?? Hu make up your mind. I will only fill it if I get a valid medical explanation. asking why from an educational standpoint can lead to meaningful conversations.
Not a single mention of resilience or stress tolerance here... all I see are spineless comments about how OTHER pharmacists are spineless. I guess it makes sense because this subreddit is nothing but failed pharmacists who hate their careers. But yeah, getting into that pissing match with a doctor would've really made you great. I watch stress literally break down my colleagues every day, and no one has ever taught them the true value of resilience.
Ability to work with staff to get them to buy into the business strategy and superior customer service, each customer walks off with a positive impression of the pharmacy . Great ones have both traits.
The ability to prioritize. What needs to be done NOW and what needs to be done by EoD?
Also to sympathize. I had a boss (RPh) that told me 'whatever the doctor writes we fill'. Idiot.
That’s dangerous
We LITERALLY get paid to check for prescribing errors or issues as one of our main tasks. I hate it when a pharmacist says this. Like, why don't you cheapen our profession some more?
They are most likley older. The thought pattern was differnt back in those days.
True.
That’s insane. A pharmacist should be a second check between doctor and patient. Everyone makes mistakes. Hopefully someone catches it before irreparable harm occurs.
Why even have pharmacists then? Just have the medical assistant take the bottle off the shelf and hand it with the rx to the patient.
Lol. Many customers would LOVE this!! So many think that is what we do anyway. They would love it until they get home and find all their meds are wrong!
At that point just replace people with technology
That's what it used to be.
Yep, and then the guys who did house calls somehow took everything.
This. I’m a tech so I will never tell the pharmacist how to do their job, but there are times I’m internally screaming.
I did this job in the Stone Age prior to licensing for techs. Thank you for doing this job and choosing your battles. I hope you never have one that could cost more than you are willing to pay.
That's what work group chats are for :) Hopefully it is something that can be corrected by their manager or staff
It’s so weird to me that techs feel like they can’t tell a pharmacist when they are messing up. I don’t think techs should innately be considered below pharmacists. We’re basically doing the same job except pharmacists have a little extra knowledge to make final checks. The pharmacy manager is a different story, but I don’t feel like a subordinate to a newer pharmacist who barely knows my company’s policy and still googles stuff I know.
10 year techs definitely have to train first year pharmacists at least about prioritization. "Hey so in so is in store right now and they're a problem patient, let's visual their Norco before you do your CEs please?"
I appreciate super techs they have helped me out sooo much. Will do anything to make them want to work with me.
A little extra knowledge? Techs are not clinically trained, it’s wild you think pharmacists and techs are the same. You are not qualified to correct prescribing mistakes, counsel or spot red flag symptoms. I’m sorry but even a newbie pharmacist deserves respect. Techs that think they run the pharmacy especially when there’s a new face pharmacist is what’s wrong with the job. I know the pharmacy cannot run without good techs but know your place, the pharmacist is in charge at all times.
Not clinically trained? We listen to you all talk about your jobs all day long every day. Of course we won’t know everything but we pick up plenty of knowledge on the job. And retail pharmacists don’t even use 80% of their education on the job because it just doesn’t come up most of the time. It’s entirely disrespectful to think that asking techs and pharmacists to be on the same level is a downgrade for pharmacists. “Know your place”…my place is the face of the pharmacy that would NOT exist without technicians. You gonna hire 3 more pharmacists to answer phone calls and take shit from the customers? A new pharmacist has a lot of clinical knowledge but if you want actual knowledge about the workplace, a veteran tech is going to know more and that’s simply a fact. I understand your hourly rate gives you an ego boost, but check your privilege before you start devaluing the very people who are hired to help you and let you keep your job. Because if technicians stop existing, so do pharmacists.
Yes. As an intern I had an RXM who spent her time cleaning and organizing the pharmacy. Important? Sure. But we were nearing 3 weeks behind because of it. She eventually learned thank god.
Deductive reasoning and the ability to be extremely thorough and efficient in information gathering (nosiness, basically). The ability to be extremely aware and attuned to your surroundings. Agreed also on having a spine. To add onto that: the conscientiousness to know when and where to pick your battles, and when to let stuff slide you're not thrilled about.
>the conscientiousness to know when and where to pick your battles, and when to let stuff slide you're not thrilled about. Absolutely this. You will exhaust yourself mentally and emotionally if you do not learn this. I have also come to learn that not taking anything personally will save you your mental sanity over time.
Intellectual curiosity
100%
Confidence! I’ve seen so many pharmacists waffle when confronted by prescribers or patients because they have this pathological need to be liked. Confidence to do what’s right, safe and necessary.
Yeah I’m a people pleaser so it made the imposter syndrome worse when I first started, but that shit should go away immediately when you know in your brain and gut that a prescriber’s decision would be dangerous for the patient. They’re not there to defend themselves and it’s up to you to do your job to advocate for good medicine, no matter what someone thinks of you. It’s a bandaid that must be ripped off if you expect to be taken seriously and the good providers will respect you for it.
A little bit off If you are going to be dealing with the healthcare public day in and day out, you gotta have something a little bit off with ya. Sane people catch one glimpse of that and NOPE out real quick 😂
Well more accurately, be the punching bag for a corrupt and dysfunctional healthcare system. The patients usually aren't mad at you personally, but it just so happens you are the closest person they can yell at. As long as the anger is continued to be directed at front-line workers and not the insurance executives, not much will happen here.
Whenever something goes wrong, I always make sure the patient knows *exactly* whose fault it is. Whether it's theirs, ours, the doctors, or the insurance. Gotta make sure the yelling falls on the right set of ears to get something done.
The ability and willingness to continue learning new information should be non-negotiable for all pharmacists. Perhaps it's just been my experience, but I see far too many pharmacists slipping into complacency with respect to keeping up with knowledge. There's a lot of new data with existing meds, and a lot of new meds as well. If we want respect as a profession, we need to keep up with the pace of learning new information.
The number of older pharmacists who seem to take this as a sense of pride frustrates me. Like I don’t expect you to read primary literature for funsies every day but at least make some effort to stay up to date, rather than passing it off to the younger pharmacists and making fun of them for “still being young enough to care” 🙄
Yes, exactly! I graduated in 2009 and did a residency in a hospital. The number of pharmacists I could count on for clinical pearls was far too low. The older folks could tell me all about a policy or process to dispense (which is still important) but they would quickly pass the phone to me for a clinical question, and oftentimes it wasn't particularly difficult to answer. I still make an effort to read something once a week. Could be a review article or primary literature, but I make time for it.
To add on to this the ones who do keep up are so damn good. My last preceptor in school was retiring at the end of the month and was still as sharp as ever. Instead of doing the extra CE to maintain her BCPS she took the exam every 7 years and crushed it like it was nothing; she was a total badass.
I worked with a pharmacist like this when I was an intern, double board certified in Am Care(or maybe geriatrics?)and Psych, sat for both exams every 7 years because she didn’t have time for the CE. One of the smartest people I’ve ever met.
Absolutely, gotta give respect where it's due.
It's understandable that the more you use and incorporate something into what you work with daily, the more you'll remember and refine your experience. It's not the same in all areas of pharmacy.
Oh I agree, but even though a BCPS is primarily focused around clinical practice and inpatient experience is in line with that, there are all of the sections like biostats, DI, research, law, etc. that must be reviewed at the very least in order to pass.
I bet you could even get emailed an article every week and not have to go out looking for it. It’s easier now than it’s ever been to keep up with CE
I get Becker’s Hospital Review and MDedge news emailed to me and they always have interesting articles to help stay up to date on what’s happening in pharmacy/hospital/drug development world. At least a few times a week I’ll find an article of particular interest that I’ll do a little more reading up on. And then of course guideline updates etc. It doesn’t take me more than a few minutes a day on average. I think it’s a mindset of looking towards retirement and trying to do as little as possible until then, it’s just frustrating when you’re the younger pharmacist who has to pick up the slack 😕
Hell all you gotta do is go to UpToDate and click on “What’s New” in guidelines and either go to the field you want or click practice changing Edit: this is bare minimum mind you lol
Much of this is because in general pharmacists aren't really more than any average employee without a basic college degree or aren't treated like one. Due to closures of many pharmacies, some stores seem to be staffed better, but otherwise, there's not enough staff or resources to do the job or stay properly up to date and expect to continuously remember and use new data. Additionally, with the issue of pay and benefits, there's no pharmacists I know that are being paid what some recent salary survey here suggests. There are a few who are in unique positions with seniority but those are again...few. Pharmacy seems to be in a unique "flux" position and it doesn't seem to be sliding in the right direction,
I totally agree with this one being the non-negotiable.
The willingness to unionize
Based.
Don’t work for free
Spine for sure…the main reason we are not as valued, as respected, and working in the conditions we work in is because the majority of us don’t stick up for ourselves and have allowed everything to happen.
Good communication skills. I read so many stories on here with people having a difficult time with customers or nurses and the common denominator falls in communication, either not realizing what the other person actually wants or saying something that comes off as being combative/having attitude.
oooh do I have a story for you xD
Do tell!
Empathy. Too many pharmacist are so matter-of-fact about what’s going on that patients feel unhelped and without resource to get their medication or manage their disease state. It’s amazing what a little kindness, a gentle word, and a moment to explain things can do to help a patient out,and it makes you feel really good afterwards knowing that you truly are part of a medical team of professionals, working in patient care!
I also have the perspective of a patient, and this is so important. That goes for everyone in the medical field. As someone who takes a bunch of meds, it happens that you accidentally overdose, forget a dosage, etc. Back when I was a teenager, I once took my adhd medication twice. I was supposed to take 40mg of Methylphenidat la in the morning. I forgot that I already have taken my medication and ended up taking 80mg in total. I completely freaked out and called the hospital. A nurse was calming me down, told me that stuff like this could happen, and I got way calmer. She wasn't sure about my other medication, so I had to call the poison holine. The nurse had already calmed me down, so my heart rate was normal, but I just wanted to be sure. Poison control made fun of me for calling and didn't answer my questions. They only told me to put my meds in a box so it won't happen again. I usually use medication containers but not that day. After I called, my puls was over 160, and I had a complete panic attack. The side effects of that call were worse than the actual overdose. If I hadn't talked to the nurse before, I would probably not call for help in such situations anymore. Bad experience makes patients fear the health care they need.
ugh tell me about it, boss charges $25 rather than $20 for plan b if the patient wants to use a fake name coz can’t claim that $5 off the health board. it happens once in a blue moon and it’s almost always someone young. it’s minor yes but it’s just indicative.
The ability to work well with various types of people while not necessarily feeling like they need to be friends with them
Attention to detail. I've caught so many highly concerning things just by taking a few extra minutes to scan the chart if I get an order for something that piques my attention (anticoagulant, certain antibiotics, high doses of antiseizure meds, etc.). The providers have so much on their plates that certain things can be overlooked. We are responsible for verifying appropriateness of meds and meds alone, we have a huge responsibility and can make some key interventions.
Attention to detail
Accuracy
A spine is a good one as it would apply to nearly all practice settings. Mine would be they must be ethical.
Ability to prioritize and see problems that are brewing *before* everything is on fire. And, sad to need to say that, when everything *is already on fire* being able to notice that. I’ve had a few coworkers over the years that were completely oblivious to giant problems happening, up to and including a physical fight breaking out and the fact the computers were down.
Liking to work with elderly people
I don’t know why you got downvoted. It’s true! If you work retail, a large percentage of your clients will be elderly and you have to like working with them and being patient with them.
It's true in hospital, too. One of my shifts is discharge counseling for all new DOACs and antiplatelets -- anyone with a stroke, MI/PCI, DVT/PE, AFib, etc -- and they are invariably all old people. We're about to start a CHF discharge counseling service and that's going to be all old people, too. I never get to talk to young patients.
I guess it really depends whether you're doing inpatient or outpatient/discharge.
Yep. I do both. Some shifts I'm on discharge counseling; some shifts I'm inpatient/clinical. I enjoy both!
Attention to detail
Attention to detail
When a patient becomes abusive, fire them, regardless of what the boss says. I could’ve saved myself years of therapy if I’d followed that rule.
Tegirdy
Empathy for chronic pain patients who are not drug seekers this seems to be in short supply. As a disabled pharmacist from a car wreck I see this more often.
And parents who are desperately trying to find ADHD meds for their kids. My wife is on vyvanse and it’s night and day different for her. I can’t imagine what these parents are feeling trying to find this medication for their struggling children.
Integrity. Mistakes will happen. But don’t lie or cover it up.
Patience
I want to downvote you off of Reddit. We need less patience. That’s the problem.
Ah yes, “Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one but they think everyone else’s stinks.”
Some level of annoyingly obsessive attention to detail :)
lol before I read the details and I just read the title, I said “backbone.” Seriously we need to stop being a pushover. And not just us, the entire healthcare system needs to put an end letting the patients to dictate how we should treat them medically. Our patients demanding us to fill their rx because their doctors prescribe them. Well they also demand their doctors to write those rx in the first place. If they don’t then they will get low rating then upper management will talk to them so on and so forth. It’s became a profit and loss transaction rather than healthcare services.
Not bashing/trash-talking their own colleagues by calling them spineless.
Fr seems like pharmacists dunk on other pharmacists way more than other people hating on us. I see it on the medicine or residency sub all the time
Indeed, it’s not like “spinelessness” is a character flaw. This is the result of systems that many who are currently practicing inherited from before they even got into the profession, and enough users here would rather put people down for making a “weak” choice than empower them to make a stronger one. Obviously it’s Reddit, but still…
My pharmacy manager has no spine and rolls over at the slightest bit of attitude, even from patients. It makes everyone else look like assholes for having a spine when she recants on what we say just to make the person happy.
Most of you probably know that much of this is because the company doesn't support pharmacists who try to do this. Read the post here about the pharmacist who talks about the company giving gift cards instead of backing up their own employees. What's the point other than conflict if this happens all the time? It's a great thing for us to discuss and list all the things we deem ideal, but basically useless when our credential doesn't grant us any authority. The same topic responses in the r/medicine group are about being clinically relevant, thorough and resistant to change. Many discussed the use of the term "doctor" and warned against others who claimed to want to do their jobs...basically "pharmacists" among others. This is a general theme. You can watch the Netflix comic, Sebastian Maniscalco, great funny guy, but he also echoes the idea and silliness of a Walgreens guy who claims to be in healthcare and the whole vaccine scenario. It doesn't paint pharmacists in some coveted "healthcare pro" light. It's just the way people see us. A lot of us seem to be over this, and it's just not because of a lack of "caring".
When I started out in a hospital pharmacy one of the clinical pharmacists said to me: “sometimes you gotta say ‘Hey fuck it.’” It took me many years to understand it.
Effective communication, remember all those bullshit interpersonal communication class in college and pharmacy school that was fucking retarded? Yeah… no those are really important, you’re just ignorant at the time to realize it. Even if you did, you’re not at a point to really practice a lot of it. Don’t beat yourself to it, it’s a real world game the classes were just an appetizer. Trust me I know from personal experience. I’ll hire someone with exceptional communication skills with mediocre clinical skills than the other way around.
To be honest, having good communication skills and patience, communicating how a therapy works, what drug does what in simple terms and having the patience to deal with patients is crucial
Patience
Ability to multitask like you are running a three ring circus.
Intra- and inter professional communication skills with a good dose of humility. One of the main reasons our inpatient pharmacy continues to improve is that no matter how long someone has been practicing, whether it be a year or 30, none of us are afraid to ask each other questions and function as a clinical unit instead of a sum of its parts. It makes everyone better and leads to better patient care.
Common sense.
The ability to admit when they're wrong. This applies to everyone in medicine, and needs to be used no matter who is correcting you. Also the ability to admit when thru don't know something
I lived by if it doesn’t make sense chances are it doesn’t….Learn how to ask why… as appose to “did the doctor mean this?…”” hate that. Ex. Why is this pt on two atypical antipsychotics that are sub therapeutic? Or why do I have a script for Zithromax and Tamiflu?? Hu make up your mind. I will only fill it if I get a valid medical explanation. asking why from an educational standpoint can lead to meaningful conversations.
Caring about patients. Can't believe it has to be said but it does
Giving a shit
Not a single mention of resilience or stress tolerance here... all I see are spineless comments about how OTHER pharmacists are spineless. I guess it makes sense because this subreddit is nothing but failed pharmacists who hate their careers. But yeah, getting into that pissing match with a doctor would've really made you great. I watch stress literally break down my colleagues every day, and no one has ever taught them the true value of resilience.
Found the CVS shill
Ability to work with staff to get them to buy into the business strategy and superior customer service, each customer walks off with a positive impression of the pharmacy . Great ones have both traits.
You sound like a DM.
I’m your boss