Recently I was asked to write a blurb to introduce myself and expand on the creation of PharmAspire. Over the past year, I’ve tried to share pieces of me through my thoughts and experiences, but haven’t really given any background to the ‘who I am’ and ‘why I created a blog’ questions. I guess that would be a good place to start.

I have been a community pharmacist since graduating from Dalhousie in 2001. Since then, I have been involved in many aspects of community pharmacy. This includes exposure to pharmacy management, marketing, human resources, professional development, corporate direction and process analysis. I’ve met many great leaders and have several mentors within the profession. I’ve had moments of burgeoning job satisfaction and also some periods with an empty, ‘is-this-for-me?’ feeling inside.

I have been fortunate that my career has had been mostly ups with only a sprinkling of downs. Here are a few of the highlights that capture my journey as a practitioner. Firstly, in 2005, I was asked to manage a dedicated long-term care site. This role required me to not only provide medications to nursing homes, but also use consulting hours each week specifically to support facility initiatives. I was able to be part of a collaborative team along with the administrative staff, the nursing staff, the medical director, and a recently added nurse practitioner. I was invited to chair pharmacy and therapeutics meetings, help draft policies and procedures, perform training sessions, and take part in facility events for the residents.

My second example is from my time at corporate office. I had always enjoyed the professional development side of human resources, and was fortunate enough to have a hand in preparing and delivering numerous events for staff. There was quite a variety, ranging from orientation of new pharmacists, to managers-only sessions, to training events for the entire pharmacy staff across multiple provinces.

The single largest change in my career was in July, 2012. Changes to legislation had begun to severely impact the life of a community pharmacist. Our new expanded scope of practice required that changes to practice be integrated on an accelerated schedule to counter drastic changes to the existing economic model. I was leading a team through these transitions, but realized that I was struggling with my readiness to change my own practice. I made the personal decision to step back and rediscover what drove me to pharmacy in the first place. PharmAspire began as a way for me to channel my thoughts and observations to focus on the positive.

Pharmacists thrive in many sectors of the healthcare system. When significant changes come about, there are almost always negative aspects associated with the transition. The old cliche, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ starts to resonate and folks look for new pastures, and new challenges. However, many of us have roots in the sector in which we work, and if our experience can influence how the changes are implemented, it can only help to sand down the rough patches. My goal with the blog is to inspire and motivate pharmacists. Wherever you may be, grab a bag of fertilizer and make your own grass greener. Strengthen those roots and get excited about sharing new experiences.

So what kind of pharmacist do you aspire to be? The tagline is, ‘The Practice of Pharmacy On Your Terms…In Your Terms.’ and those ideas can spring from anywhere at anytime. The act of describing in our own terms the barriers we’ve overcome and the rewards we reap, will help the entire pharmacy community to evolve our practice to meet the needs of the healthcare system, on our own terms.