They
were not outstanding or requiring great clinical prowess, just ordinary
customers and ordinary patients and ordinary solutions with the
collaboration of the local General Practitioners.
But the joy expressed in his obvious satisfaction should have been
packaged and distributed to all the sceptics and the disillusioned
(with- my -lot) pharmacists out there.
A dose of this could change lives!
What was expressed is the reward that comes from finally having
an expertise recognised, the ability to work with a successful team
and notch up wins and to finally be recognised in many ways including
dollars for contributing unique knowledge to a better patient outcome.
In other words, being a team player that gets the goals!
This is now possible for pharmacists and not before time.
A discussion on an Internet chat involving the profession provided
interesting insights into the need for dispensary assistants (techs,
I believe is the current terminology).
Should the ratio be one to one (tech to pharmacist) or with the
shortage of pharmacists, should it be more to cope with the pressure
of work?
What should be the job description?
Are they just to replace pharmacists where a qualified cannot be
found?
Many questions and conundrums to be answered.
One poignant contribution to the discussion was from a pharmacist
reflecting many I am afraid, who bemoaned the shackles of the dispensary
and the tedium of the work of dispensing - scarcely the professional
satisfaction desired after a four or five year undergraduate stimulation
and exertion demanded by a stringent high calibre course bright
graduates expect.
Can we now productively ask why there is a shortage of pharmacists
to do this work?
My sympathy is extended to pharmacists who find themselves in these
situations.
Contrast this to the first guy and ask how the real value of a pharmacist
can be extended into the community in a way that benefits the population
and extends the pharmacist in a satisfying and rewarded career that
utilises his/her knowledge and expertise in a creative way.
Is it now time when opportunities are opening for pharmacists to
review the many barriers that still keep pharmacists in mundane
and repetitious roles and is the result primarily of a slow evolution
from a seemingly outdated mode of pharmaceutical supply?
The first guy is along with many others preparing to go to the FIP-PAC
conference in Sydney in September.
He will have a ball and come back even more enthused with added
knowledge and the stimulation of his peers.
I guess the other dismayed guy if he was to go could return to his
dispensary shackle more disillusioned than before unless he was
persuaded by what he heard to break out and seek other opportunities.
What are the possibilities of this when rigid barriers prevent a
creative solution to the pharmacist shortage?
If he came to Melbourne I could point him in the direction of up
to eight pharmacist positions offering great new challenges, utilising
professional expertise out in the community as a team player and
for which, so far there have been no takers.
The pharmacist shortage is making its presence felt right here in
my Division and opportunities are going to be lost that will ensure
a satisfying and rewarding future for young pharmacists.
This is where I despair! |
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HEATHER
PYM 