NOVEMBER, Edition # 38, 2001

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By the time you read this article, I will have completed my last exam.
There is a fair chance I would have partaken in a couple of quiet beers, followed by several loud ones.
There is every possibility I will have openly participated in some form of karaoke within the last 24 hours.
And why not!
From what I have read and heard from many, by taking the next step and becoming a pharmacist, entering that "real world", my life is effectively over.
The GST, script % markups, Sudafed shoppers, disgruntled customers, lack of professional assistance in the rural settings, being hassled by reps from drug companies.
A continuing professional education body wanting to get in the sack with another unnamed body who tries to undo any positive work that is done for Indigenous pharmacy.
('sigh')
It has been a bit of a period of reflection for me over the last couple of weeks, and I have realised the change which I have undergone since I began university. Going into University, I decided I would do pharmacy because I was pretty good at chemistry, there was no way in the world I was going to be happy with a desk job in a cubicle somewhere.
And the pharmacist from down the road had a pretty good car!
I can remember sitting in first year lectures, trying to figure out exactly where the most money could be made in pharmacy.
I remember sitting in second year lectures scoffing at the idea of a pharmacist undertaking patient counselling.
I mean, no pharmacist ever did that, did they?
All the pharmacies I had ever set foot in had taken my money without a word of medication advice.
I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but something (perhaps continual bombardment of pharmacy self worth propaganda) made me realize that there had to be more to this degree than owning a shop and making money.
The very moment I understood that point, everything seemed to fit into place. Fiscal issues became background issues.
Professional healthcare pushed its way through to the forefront of my mind.
I began to whinge less about how we are expected to explain almost every facet of medication to a patient, and began to whinge more about greedy pharmacists putting $$ before health.
It turns out that my life is just about to begin, regardless of what I read or hear. Pharmacy really isn't all that bad, unless you lose sight of what it is you are supposed to be: an independent healthcare professional looking to improve the health of every individual who walks in through the front door.
Well, maybe not for the drug reps…
I'd be interested to hear why the readers of this fine publication decided to become pharmacists.
Perhaps some personal reflections in the newsletter reader's forum?

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