I waltzed into my selected Community Pharmacy, Y, with psyche. I had changed my name tag, my lab coat and christened them with my new title, Dr. I eagerly awaited changing my lifestyle when my salary would hit the bank account.
As I write this, my mind is taken back to those days of internship. The good old days when money was in my bank account. The good old days when most luxuries were just a swipe away. The days when the cut throating realities and thoughts of any form of lack, had been well packaged, shaken together and returned back to its sender.
I particularly remember this rotation. Community pharmacy Y was praised in the local town where I did my internship. Rumour had it among locals that if you could not find a drug there, then you could not find it anywhere else in that county. Y had built its brand and established a name for itself.
I can confidently admit that the rumours were true. The pharmacy was well stocked, drug after drug, combination after combination and brand after brand. Every day was a practical learning day. Interacting with different patients and medical representatives became a way of life. An exciting approach that I have come to appreciate this exposure.
I was appreciating community pharmacy practice each day. As day by day passed, I was becoming a better pharmacist. A lifelong learner, I became and I am most grateful for this chance.
On the flip side, I also witnessed how a Pharmacist can employ quacks who learn on the job and believe they have mastered the craft of dispensing. They dispensed to the public. After all, aren’t they all of the utopian school of thought that; an unexperienced Pharmacist is less of an equal to a quack with experience.
I remember someone saying that behind every quack there is a pharmacist somewhere. I saw it first hand making money with my own eyes.
Dear young pharmacist, it is still possible to make change in whatever sector you get a chance. Despite seeing people who had no diploma nor degree dispensing, I managed to learn and make a difference to the patients. I knew my place in patient care. Some patients will appreciate your contributions.
Let’s keep pushing the profession. There will be ups and downs, but let’s keep on working to push pharmacy to the next level.
Let us do right by our noble profession!
Dr. Carvedilol