Monthly Archives: December 2014

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Holiday Musings

Ah, the holiday season is upon us. In the case of retail pharmacists, it’s a time to fit shopping and decorating in between adjusted schedules to allow for staff to have a few days off. Patients become less patient due to the bustle and we are managing care while physician’s offices close until the New Year (which is becoming easier every year now that we have prescribing authority).

So as life slows down for at least a couple of well-deserved days of rest, I would like to take the opportunity to look back on a very eventful year for PharmAspire. Every interaction I have, every bit of news that pops into my inbox, all seems to find its way into the writings somehow.  Sometimes, I have wondered if the list of topics would reach an endpoint or the themes would become stale. But pharmacy is so fast-moving, chasing that moving target continues to make this site fun.

Let’s see here:

We started with New Year’s  and all of the expectations we create for ourselves. The follow-up on that was more interesting to me only because I realized how much was forgotten about the original post; although I was somewhat successful with my goals to that point, it wasn’t because I had a constant reminder to keep me on track. Maybe that will be my first resolution for next year…

The next item to highlight is one of my favorites, and it came in 50 shades. This drew on my personal experience and attempted to emphasize the uncertainty of what new clinicians may be dealing with, including myself. February was a turning point in that I was contacted by Pharmacy Practice + with an offer to work together for the publication. It has been an honour to work with such a fantastic editor. Vicki, your support this past year has been phenomenal and I look forward to seeing what is in store for 2015. I can’t thank you enough.

Fast-forward to the spring and we had a couple of lifestyle pieces about Life Outside Work and the 60/40 rule. Then heading into the fall, we visited regulation-related topics including licensed technicians and lab requisitions.

It’s been quite the journey, but a rewarding one that continues to push me to be a better practitioner and a better person. None of this would be possible without a few key people:

 

My friends – After a post, I will inevitably receive a tweet / email / text / phone call from someone giving me encouragement. They look through the magazine when it’s delivered. They’ve elected to receive email alerts the site. They’ve started following me on facebook and Twitter. Pharmacy is a huge community, and I’m blessed to be a part of it.

My family – Di and the kids have been the unsung heroes through my roller-coaster career. They keep me grounded. They provide perspective to who I am and what I strive to be.

Mom and Dad – I can always count on mom to be asking for back issues of any months she may be missing. They are with us every step of the way, helping two full-time shift-workers maintain a semblance of normalcy amongst a chaotic routine.

Laura M. – She’s been there since the beginning. Over oat cakes and lattes, she showed me what a blog actually was. Her input has helped my confidence and simply put, made me a better writer. By making sure I don’t take short-cuts when articulating my thoughts, or using confusing similes / metaphors, she takes my flight of ideas and condenses them into readable prose. She has also written a number or pieces for the site as well. A heartfelt thank-you for everything you’ve done and continue to do.

Finally, to you the readers – This blog is an avenue for us to explore our lives in pharmacy with a positive light. Taking the time out of your day to check out a post means a lot. As therapeutic as it can be for me, hopefully some of the topics will continue to resonate with your own practice and professional development.

 

So what’s in store? I’ve had a couple of people suggest vlogging, which frankly I find terrifying but if it encourages collaboration, I may be convinced. There are a few irons in the fire that may drive content early in the New Year, so stay tuned for that. I’m always looking for folks wanting to contribute ideas, discussion points, or media items. Feel free to contact me:

email: dcovey@pharmaspire.ca

Twitter: @pharmaspire

Facebook: pharmaspire

 

Let’s raise a glass of egg-nog-infused cheer! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

 

 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, employer or affiliation.

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Pharmacists Abroad

When you live on the east coast in Canada, you come to expect that the weather in November starts to get chilly. Temperatures regularly tease with the freezing mark and the occasional snowfall get folks scampering for their winter tires after traffic reports fill up with snarls.

So some friends and family decided to bypass November and head for sunnier climes in Florida…and were hit with torrential rains and single digit temperatures (or state-side, ‘in the forties’). We brought the kids to a magical place which you may have heard about. I went to go meet some famous princesses, and begrudgingly agreed to bring the kids with me. Three of our group were pharmacists and try as we may, conversation often turned to pharmacy topics much to the chagrin of everyone else.

Pharmacists are a passionate bunch, to be sure. Although vent sessions prove popular on occasion, most of the conversation turned to the differences in pharmacy between countries and the many signs of progress we’ve seen in the past 5-7 years. Who would have thought that giving injections for flu or travel vaccines would be in such high demand? I was completely ignorant to this when I graduated and figured that the awareness and growth of this service would be organic, not the year over year explosion that we’ve seen. It’s the same with prescribing; it’s becoming much more intuitive for me today to explore my options when a patient arrives at the counter with an expired prescription or a hospital discharge ordering a non-formulary medication.

Some folks would never see a doctor if they could get away with it. Nurturing and maintaining that circle of care is still very important for monitoring and education. However, I do see inefficiency rear it’s ugly head in the form of one to three-month supplies with no refills for stable therapy that has gone unchanged for years. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that people expect (and often demand) that we extend or re-new their prescriptions. The good news is that now in many instances, we can do just that. Taking on that prescribing liability is a huge adjustment, but as a group we’re warming up quickly to the idea. Contrast that potential liability with buying Prozac off the shelf in a Mexican airport terminal – no danger there of course.

So maybe pharmacy isn’t as magical as say, frozen castles and fireworks (though the apothecary on Main St. serves some magical-tasting sweets), but our ability to adapt in such a short transition period of 3-5 years is pretty impressive. We’re just getting started too: with integrated databases and future ability to request blood-work, some of that maintenance burden may be lifted from general practitioners. They can focus on diagnostics and problem-solving while allowing pharmacists to help screen and respond to T3 and INR values.

We will continue to be pharmacists in other lands. We will be curious to visit pharmacies in other countries and to see how their healthcare system works. What products are available for self-selection and which ones are prescription? Sometimes we see drugs that have not yet been approved in Canada, or an old standby that goes by an exotic name.

Have fun on vacation. Sometimes the time away from the ‘job’ can help rebuild the love for the ‘profession.’

 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, employer or affiliation.