1. Bake banana bread.

2. Watch various YouTube videos of dachshunds.

3. Add more movies and shows to my Netflix queue.

4. Write this blog entry.

5. Watch the maintenance guy fix the gap under our door.

6. Stare at the ceiling.

7. Debate whether I should replace players on my fantasy football team.

8. Listen to Christmas music.

9. Watch baseball. (Go Rangers!)

10. Facebook in between all of the above things.

You wake me when I can no longer snooze
Especially after a night of too much booze
I can’t explain what you to do to me
All I know is without you, I’m unhappy
No really, sometimes I get very moody
In that way that’s more intimidating than Judge Judy
But then, I find a moment to have a sip of you
And the grass looks so green and the sky so blue!
Just like a friend who has a good drinking buddy
You’ve brought me good times when I need to study
Some might say my love for you is an addiction
That I obsess over you like I have a sick condition
But they don’t understand the better person I am
When you stimulate my nervous system
You do have some drawbacks, like how much you make me pee
But overall, I have to say, you complete me

Despite what some people think, the point of the “99%” is not a bunch of people bitching about their personal situation on a Tumblr account (or at least it’s not supposed to be). Just as people should be held accountable for depending on welfare while being lazy, living above their means, or taking out way too many loans to go to a private school for a liberal arts degree, there are corporations that received bailout money and used it to further line their pocketbooks instead of repairing the damage they caused. And that’s why I agree with the point of the movement. I want to hold the people in the “1%” accountable for their bad decisions that caused the recession, housing foreclosure crisis, and skyrocketing unemployment. I want to hold our people in government accountable for putting the needs of their big corporate donors ahead of the people. It’s great if you’ve made the right choices and things are still working out fine and dandy for you, but that doesn’t mean the system shouldn’t be fixed. Look at the bigger picture.

PS – These charts help illustrate that bigger picture.

I had my first day as an intern at my IPPE site, which is an independent pharmacy about 30 minutes away on the freeway, which is only a little longer than my commute to work was in Dallas. I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially having never worked in a community setting before. It also doesn’t help that two of my classmates had, um, interesting first days at their sites. One got to witness a robbery, and another was there when a narcotics agent tried to do a sting buying Sudafed with a fake ID. I’ve also heard horror stories from pharmacists I worked with of just being ignored and treated as free labor. When I got there though, I knew I had an awesome site when the lady with pink hair greeted me and informed me she’s my preceptor.

I showed up in professional attire like we were told to do in class. I wore a nice black shirt with gray dress pants and black work shoes, but I definitely stood out since everyone there wears scrubs. I plan on going back for a few more hours Saturday, and since I have a bunch of scrubs from my old job, I ask if it’s ok for me to wear scrubs from now on as well. She goes, “Oh absolutely, but Saturday is jean day, so you might want to wear jeans.”

Seriously, coolest pharmacy ever.

As I said before, having no prior experience in this setting, I felt a little out of my element at first. I do know that pharmacies have a pretty orderly work flow, and being unfamiliar with it I didn’t want to start doing things that would disrupt someone’s job. I let my preceptor and the techs tell me what to do until I got more comfortable with how things ran. By the end of my shift, I was able to be more proactive with filling prescriptions.

I also took a few prescriptions over the phone, which is something I have never done (aside from a mock phone-in in my class). I wrote down everything I would need to ask ahead of time, so I wouldn’t forget anything. I felt pretty blonde at one moment, because I asked the lady on the other line to spell “Medrol”, and I could tell she was thinking, “uh… seriously?” Oh well. I know with time it’ll be easier and more natural, but I hate being in that new slow phase.

I think the weirdest thing for me is to separate myself from the technician role and be more like the pharmacist. I’m so used to asking the pharmacist questions and doing what they tell me, and it’s a little intimidating to know that eventually I’m going to have to take that leadership role and be the one running the place. At the same time, that’s also exciting, and I think it’s why I’m so eager to learn.

Many jobs have been replaced by machines and robots, but are pharmacists next? This article from Slate magazine would have to believe so, but this goes back to the perception that all we do is count pills. Most of the article’s argument comes from the idea that pharmacists have a mindless job. That just because we don’t have to compound most medicine now, we don’t do anything. We just stick a label on it and bill the insurance, right? If that actually were the case, I could see where a robot would do the job, but under the surface there are many things pharmacists do that aren’t so menial. Problems arise and customers are unpredictable, and I don’t think we’d want to trust a robot to handle them.

On the bright side, Mr. Robot doesn’t take bathroom breaks. I guess he has me beat there.

I don’t think this is something we should ignore. It’s a very real threat, especially since robots aren’t as prone to human error, but the ball is in our hands to demonstrate our value about how much clinical knowledge we have and how well we could use it. We need to create a better image with the public, because it’s up to them where they take their prescriptions, and it’s up to them whether it’s important to just get their medicine from a machine or if they want to have that relationship with their pharmacist. Personally, I’m irritated when my cashier isn’t a person. No robot can ever recreate that everyday chit-chat and interaction the way a real human being can, and it’s especially important that healthcare professionals stay human to maintain that relationship with their patients. Maybe we could start by airing a PSA about how annoying it would be to get counseled by C-3PO. That would be pretty effective.

The title is brought to you by the great Ice Cube.

I had one of those “Where has the time gone?” moments today when I realized that it’s already been six years since my high school graduation, and it led to my reflection on what I’ve accomplished since then. Sure, like most high school classes, I’m faring better than our cliche screw-ups among the “popular” ones. However, some of my classmates have already found success with their careers and bought their first house. Others are married, and perhaps a kid or two has popped into their lives. As for me… I’m still in that limbo where I can’t settle down yet, but I shouldn’t envy those that can. Sometimes the “in progress” phase of our lives goes unappreciated, and I don’t feel so bad for basking in it.

If you asked me six years ago where I thought I’d be at this point, I would have figured I’d be done with pharmacy school and working as a pharmacist. I’m obviously a few years behind schedule, but the extra time it’s taken me to get where I want hasn’t all been for nothing. I spent more time in school and got a degree so that I could step back and question whether pharmacy was really right for me. It also gave me more time to mature and get through the whole “finding me” phase while still in undergrad. On the relationship side of things… I’ve definitely kissed my fair share of frogs, at least providing me with valuable insight on who I shouldn’t marry. I stuck my feet in the “real world”, seeing what it’s like to work 40 hours a week and learning how to responsibly manage my own income. No student loans, no parents, just bills. That job also gave me valuable pharmacy experience and allowed me to ultimately realize it’s what I wanted to do all along.

Most importantly, I haven’t strayed so far from my path that I’ve lost sight of my goals. The destination is important, but I’ve found that the journey can be just as worthwhile, even if it’s not the quickest way there. Sometimes it’s good to exit the interstate and take the scenic route instead.

I don’t want to scare anyone away, but I thought I’d post some numbers as a way of giving people a rough idea of just how much professional school costs these days. If you have super rich parents or won the lottery, then this doesn’t apply to you. But the rest of us have to rely on taking out loans, and though pharmacists make good money, the cost is rising much faster than pharmacists’ incomes. I also want to point out that, as an out-of-state student, I am on the high end of the cost spectrum. Those attending private schools can expect similar numbers, but most in-state tuition for public colleges will be a little cheaper.

This year I took out a little less than $60,000 to pay for out-of-state tuition, fees, books, and basic living expenses. Working during school really isn’t an option for me. My schedule is busy enough as it is, and it wouldn’t be worth it if I overwhelmed myself, failed a class, and had to take out more loans to retake the class again in the summer. Ideally, I can work over the summers and save a little money as well as try to get as many scholarships as I can, but for the sake of painting a worst-case scenario, I’ll leave that out of the equation. I also have some debt from undergrad that I’m deferring for four years, and including that, I’ll estimate my total debt at about $250,000. Basically, for what I’ll pay for pharmacy school, I could have taken out a mortgage on a really nice house.

To most people, that’s an insane amount of money to borrow for school. Admittedly, when I actually think about it, I wonder if I’m nuts. Frankly, I probably wouldn’t have done it if pharmacists didn’t make the kind of money that they do because it just wouldn’t be feasible to pay the money back in a reasonable amount of time. I used a student loan calculator I found online to estimate monthly payment based on a 6.8% interest rate (which the majority of my loans have). When I graduate, I want to try and repay mine back within ten years, which puts me at about $2900 per month.

Yikes! That’s more than I made in a month working full-time as a tech! Thankfully, pharmacists make a lot more than techs, so let’s assume I start out at a $100K salary. After taxes (assuming I live in Texas, I’ll have no state income tax), 401K contributions, and benefits deductions, that might net me around $70,000, which is a little less than $6,000 a month. After paying my student loans, that leaves me around $3,000 a month for rent, bills, fun times, etc. Some people might scoff at that, but I was able to live pretty comfortably on 2/3 of that, so to me it’s not the end of the world. If people want, they can do the 25-year plan and keep more of their money per month, but in the long run you pay a lot more in interest.

These obviously aren’t exact numbers, but the point is that if you were hoping to go on a shopping spree after pharmacy school, this is something worth considering. However, if pharmacy is truly your passion, you’re by no means living in a box after graduation. It’s a lot of debt, but you can do it. On the bright side, this will probably deter a lot of the people who would only go into pharmacy for the money, and I’m fine with that.

I was reading a thread in a pharmacy forum where the original poster complained about being disrespected by some non-pharmacy coworkers. The first thing that comes to my mind is, “Do they act in a way the warrants respecting?” Pharmacists have a very respectable title on their own (don’t get me wrong), but a title only goes so far. All that title says is, “I know a lot about drugs.” 90% of how people respect you comes from how you respect others. It has to be earned through the humility of recognizing that other people are worth respecting for the role they play in your workplace (or other environment). That said, where I worked, the pharmacists had that respect for others, yet sometimes it still wasn’t reciprocated. Nurses and doctors would call and yell at them because this drug is missing or this drug isn’t on the formulary, all while failing to recognize that the pharmacist is working hard trying to get those problems solved.

So then I thought about what else could contribute to this, and I noticed a trend in the way people behaved toward pharmacists. The hospital I worked at had a pretty big decentralized part of the pharmacy department, so a lot of times the pharmacists leave the satellites to go round or at least spend time with the doctors and nurses that work in the units that the pharmacist is in charge of. In our surgical ICU, the top half of the door to the satellite is always open when the pharmacist is there, so doctors and nurses can walk right up with their questions instead of calling. In these situations, I rarely see a nurse or doctor speak in such a rude tone as what I overhear from phone conversations in the other satellites.

With that in mind, I also know that many hospitals (especially smaller ones) are still highly centralized. Pharmacists rarely have that face-to-face interaction with other members of the healthcare team, and I think that’s a big reason why there is some disconnect between pharmacy and everyone else. It isn’t just that we have less patient interaction than doctors and nurses, we have less interaction period.

It’s kind of like how it’s easy to get road rage and flip someone off when we get cut off on the road, but when most of us bump into someone on the sidewalk we’re more polite and understanding. It’s a lot easier for other people to get along when they have to see each other more often in person than it is when our only line of communication is a telephone. And that’s one reason why I think hospitals should continue to evolve in the direction of decentralization. It removes that communication barrier and fosters a better relationship between the pharmacist and the rest of the healthcare team. We become better at respecting each other, and in turn it’ll lead to better care for our patients.

This article reminded me of a video I just watched in class about pharmacy robberies.

In that video, we were instructed to just give the robber what he or she demanded. I have no problem with that. I understand that it’s just a bunch of pills that can be replaced. However, most robbers aren’t going to stroll in and go, “Excuse me, could you kindly put some of those narcotics into this bag?” Sometimes, when a robber involves a weapon in their threat, it’s because they plan on using it. In addition to some drugs with street value, one of those things a robber might want is “no witnesses”, and I’m not as keen on the idea of obliging to that one.

In the case of this article, two men came into a Walgreens with the intent to rob the pharmacy. One of the men leaped over the counter and fired shots at the pharmacist. The pharmacist wasn’t injured, and at that point he takes out his concealed gun and fires back, scaring the men out of the store. The next day, Walgreens fires him for violating the company’s weapons policy.

I don’t blame Walgreens for taking the stance they have. They can’t condone pharmacists carrying concealed weapons because the legal ramifications if an innocent bystander were accidentally shot would be a PR nightmare. It should be noted, however, that the pharmacist mentions buying the gun after the store was robbed a few years ago. When that happened, did Walgreens take additional steps to provide a secure environment for its employees? No. And with that in mind, you can’t blame the pharmacist for taking matters into his own hands either.

One of the things I got involved with at school is the Student Ambassador program. Throughout the year, I have opportunities to go with fellow pharmacy students to various schools and speak to some prospective students about pharmacy, my school, the application process, etc. A main reason I’m doing it is because I don’t really like public speaking, and this is a good way to force myself to get over it. I also credit the awesome ambassadors at my interview with being a major reason for wanting to come here instead of a different school I was accepted to, and I’d like to pass that on to the future students.

Today I had my first “gig” at a nearby college. Seven of us stood in front of a classroom of about 30-40 people to answer questions. Though usually these things happen at pre-pharmacy club meetings, I’m pretty sure this was just a group of people interested in healthcare in general. Judging by the amount of people buried in mid-afternoon naps or their cell phones, I take it most were looking into things other than pharmacy. The real gem came after our recruiting director spoke a bit about the application process, and she asked them, “What do you think pharmacists do?”

After a few moments of awkward silence, someone finally peeped, “Count pills.”

*sigh*

Working in a pharmacy and being here at school has made me forget how much most people don’t know about this profession at all. So, one-by-one we shared our stories of why we decided to choose pharmacy. We explained that pharmacist’s do much more than count pills (I mean really, we have techs for that now), and have become an accessible healthcare professional where people can seek advice about their medicine without having to see a doctor. We also talked about the hospital end of things where you have specialists that round with doctors and actually have a say in the patient’s therapy. I could tell some people were surprised, and after that the questions didn’t stop coming.

I don’t know if we inspired someone to apply to pharmacy school today, but if nothing else, at least many people are coming away with a better perception of pharmacy than they had before. And that’s when I realized my biggest incentive for not only being an ambassador, but for getting involved in general. I don’t want to be the pharmacist that makes people think we just count pills. I want to be the pharmacist that makes someone go, “Wow, my dream someday is to do that!”

Plus… if I really liked counting that much, I’d be The Count when I grow up.