Independent Pharmacist Reflective Account

918 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Why professionalism is important in healthcare

With a background of 3 years working at a retail pharmacy, I decided to explore further about other pharmacy settings. I chose my top picks for the rotation to be independent pharmacies. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to shadow at Hilgers Family Pharmacy. This experience provided me great insight of what a typical day would be like for an independent pharmacist.
The four-week-long rotation granted me valuable exposure to more one-on-one interactions with patients. Normally in the retail pharmacy I am working at, I would be too busy performing both technician and intern tasks to have time to connect with the patients. It was fascinating to see how each patient’s unique stories and background can influence how the advice is heard. The rotation …show more content…

I have realized that even though listing the common side effects of a medication is significant, it can lead to noncompliance since the patient would be too terrified of experiencing the long list of adverse effects. Furthermore, I feel more confident when analyzing patient profiles; I started to pay attention to more details like which doctor is patient seeing, what vaccines can they get, etc. There are other several items that I have learned such as how to compound troches, blister pack, how much profit could the pharmacy make from different prescriptions, how PBM or Pharmacy Benefit Manager works in between the pharmacy and the insurance company, and many other things. I am grateful for this …show more content…

Objective 1: Professional communications with patients. I was able to effectively communicate and interact with patients through activities like giving counsel to patients while under the supervision of my preceptor, helping patients with pick up and drop off, and answering phone calls.
2. Objective 2: Introduction to interdisciplinary community health care. Throughout the course of the rotation, I observed and engaged in discussions with different health care professionals such as nurses and physicians to better improve patient care.
3. Objective 3: Professional development. During the rotation, I kept my mature attitude, showed professionalism toward all patients, pharmacy staffs, as well as other healthcare providers.
4. Objective 4: Fundamentals of dispensing. My background with retail pharmacy and the guidance of my preceptor further strengthened my understanding about the process of dispensing controlled and non-controlled medications.
5. Objective 5: Introduction to community pharmacy operations and management. As I mentioned before, being in an independent pharmacy has exposed me to many other sides of a pharmacy, for example, third party contracts, profits made. Something that I have not been revealed to before in retail pharmacy. It was interesting to know that independent pharmacy can have more control over which wholesaler or how many wholesalers they can order

Show More
Related

  • IPPE Reflection

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since I have been worked in Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland, I was not surprised with the work load and the hospital setting at Millcreek Community Hospital (MCH). With a goal of enrichment my knowledge in a hospital pharmacy setting, I am enthusiastic in accomplishing the assigned duties. I have very high expectation during these four weeks of IPPE rotation; I expect to learn beyond what I already know in the past and apply what I learn during the past year in to pharmacy practice. Arriving at Millcreek Community Hospital, I was not surprised the pharmacy's setting in hospital but I'm surprised the different types of work I received. At Veteran Affairs Medical Center, all I ever did are filling the prescriptions, stocking, and managed automated machines but at MCH,

    Read More

  • Pharmacy Case Study

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    To start off, chain pharmacies which are sort of like community or retail pharmacies are places such as; CVS, Walgreens, Publix, any grocery store, etc. If you ever ask a pharmacist or pharmacy technician that works in this kind of environment, most likely they will tell you “it’s all about the people.” For over 22 years, pharmacists have ranked near the top of the Gallup Poll

    Read More

  • Jackrabbits Pharmacy Case Study

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a student in SDSU’s pharmacy program one of the activities required to prepare us for real world pharmacy practice would be to shadow a staff pharmacist at the Jackrabbits pharmacy on the SDSU campus. I have had previous work experience in a community pharmacy and there are some unique features which makes Jackrabbits pharmacy stick out.

    Read More

  • Margaret Link: A Case Study

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    US’s pharmacists have their hands tied and are demanding every patient to receive the precise medication prescription they have written up for. On the other hand, being a pharmacist is more than that, it is about building your patients’ knowledge on the risks and potential hazards on certain medications they are prescribed to. With that being said, this means that a pharmacist’s job is directly providing for patient in order to help them live a long healthy life within their scope of practice. Pharmacists cannot afford for any errors to occur and taking the time to make sure the accurate bottle of medication falls into the right patient’s hands is a huge responsibility for pharmacists

    Read More

  • Shadowing Experience In Pharmacy

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    This introduced a different side of the pharmacy field where a strong interaction with the public is substantial. As a pharmacy techician, I worked to support pharmacists in greeting patients with prescription orders, processing insurance paperwork, and answering questions and requests. I learned to be patient and resourceful, but constrained in my ability to give medical advice as often times patients ask for advice. Also, this job allowed me the opportunity to learn from pharmacists as they prepare prescriptions, provide advices to doctors and help patients with the most cost effective medications. Nonetheless, the most rewarding aspect of this job has been my ability to assist patients and conversing with them on personal level, ranging from trivial topics like how their days go or casual chats about the recent daily events, to their history of medical troubles. This job has definitely provided me with the real-world experience needed to be successful in the pharmacy field and improved my customer service

    Read More

  • Importance Of Teamwork And Collaboration In Health Care

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    Teamwork and collaboration in the healthcare industry is an essential part of making sure that the patients we care for reach optimal outcomes. It is no longer a world where the nurse’s only job is to take orders from physicians. As nurses it is our responsibility to advocate for our patients and the best way for this to happen is through teamwork and collaboration with the patient, families and other professionals involved in their care. By forming clear and logical objectives and understanding the roles and tasks of each member of the team, we work towards the best possible outcomes for our patients.

    Read More

  • Collaborative Practice In Health Care

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    For this reason, it is imperative that individuals improve communication among these stakeholders. In the course of 4days in a hospital, a patient can come into contact with about 50 different employees including nurses, technicians and physicians. As a result, for effective clinical practice, critical information MUST be passed on with complete accuracy. According to Rosenstein & O’Daniel 2008, some of the obstacles to Interprofessional Collaboration and Communication include Gender, hierarchy, differences in languages and jargon, the diverse levels of preparation, qualifications and status, the complexity of the care, the historical Interprofessional and Interprofessional contentions, differences in professional routines and agenda, the emphasis on quick decision-making, the fear of diluting one’s professional identity among others. Additionally, those who have the most barriers tend to be physicians and nurses. Despite their numerous interactions in one day, they have differing perceptions about their responsibilities and roles concerning the requirements the patient may have so they end up having different goals for the patient. Due to the ethnic diversity

    Read More

  • Pharmacy Informatics Rotation Essay

    449 Words  | 1 Pages

    June APPE Rotation Pharmacy Informatics Jinwon Byun This month, I did a rotation with Pharmacy Informatics team in the Cleveland Clinic. Before I started my rotation, I had no clue what Pharmacy Informatics does. Fortunately, my preceptor, Marc Willner, understood me and already knew that not many people know about Pharmacy Informatics. So, he gave me a brief overview about Pharmacy Informatics.

    Read More

  • Killing Me?

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    Inside most packaging all prescription medication from a pharmacy are instructions and disclaimers for the product; these instructions includes a list of prescriptions that conflict with the medication, side effects of the drug itself, allergic reactions, phone numbers to call if the drugs affect you badly, emergency methods to prevent death and information on the statistics included in the drug testing and chemical analysis. Unfortunately many people never read ...

    Read More

  • My First Shadowing Experience: My Life Of A Pharmacist

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    The pharmacist was very friendly because he would listen to every bit of information given by the customers. In pharmacy field, it is important to be organized at job area, since there is lot of medications you have to deal with. If the pharmacist its not responsible for his work, then he will accidentally messed up and will give the medicines it to the wrong person. Keeping this in mind, I observe the pharmacist at shadowing station and he was perfect at his job. He check the label on the medicines twice before giving out to the customers to make sure his giving it to the right person. Watching this I was surprised because I learn that, whenever you do something, check and ask yourself “whatever I am doing, is it right ? .” Next, I learn how important is to keep good relationships with the people your working with. At shadowing station, the pharmacy technician was great supporter to the pharmacist because pharmacy technician manage the area of dosages, labeling, and medication dispensing. Mainly observing the pharmacist I feel that they care about the patients because when I saw the patients facial expressions, the patients felt trustworthy on the pharmacist.

    Read More

  • Becoming A Pharmacy Technician

    273 Words  | 1 Pages

    My first day of clinicals at White Star Pharmacy, was exciting and I learned a lot of information that will be useful for when I actually begin to work as a Pharmacy Technician. I learned that at White Star, the pharmacist is the one that does all the computer/paperwork, they put in all the medication, patient, and insurance information. The pharmacy technicians are the ones who prepare the medications and label the bottles, and the pharmacist will then check their work and flip the bottle upside down when it is correct and ready to be bagged. The pharmacy technicians were really nice and helpful, even though I look confused about a few things, they took the time to explain it to me. For example, when I was asked to place a medication bottle

    Read More

  • Cvs In Pharmacy

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    CVS is a well known corporation around the world that offers an easily, accessible pharmacy service to millions of those who need their prescriptions fills and advice. Combining medical knowledge and patient care, those two factors peaked my interest in pursuing the pharmacy career. Thanks to the Biomedical Innovations class, I am able to continue learning in the PLTW Biomedical Sciences, and furthermore, have an internship at any biomedical health related field available. For me to set a foot into a pharmacy, I must follow multiple steps to obtain my pharmacy technician in-training license. To determine whether if it’s the right career for me, I took the opportunity given by my high school to submerge myself into the pharmacy environment

    Read More

  • A Leader That I Admire

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    During my senior year in high school, I started an internship at Walgreens Pharmacy in Brownsville, Texas. This was a unique opportunity for me to find out if I would like to have a career as a pharmacist. So far, not only have I learned about my interest in pharmacy, but I have also learned from Dr. Leonard, one of the pharmacists at Walgreens. Even though I have made many mistakes as a Pharmacy Technician Trainee, Dr. Leonard always motivated me to do better the next time and stay positive. He always has a smile when he is working and looks forward to helping others. As a result of his qualities, Dr. Leonard assists everyone work easier together because there are never arguments. If there is a misunderstanding, Dr. Leonard al...

    Read More

  • Career Essay For Pharmacy

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    I was also responsible for monitoring medication orders and reviewing patient profiles to ensure that the proper drugs and dosages were prescribed and that the pharmacy technician had prepared them properly. In many instances there were mistakes made in the preparation phase and sometimes even before, with incorrect dosages or drugs being prescribed and prepared, which could result in serious adverse effects for the patient. A clinical pharmacist’s role, however, is to make sure that these mistakes never reach the

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Pharmacists

    1458 Words  | 3 Pages

    Like every career, pharmacists have certain qualities and skills. I feel that I fit many qualities of pharmacists, including an attention to detail, communication skills, and science and mathematic skills. I have also been a perfectionist, paying attention to each detail of my work. This is what helped me stay organized throughout high school, and earn a 4.021 cumulative GPA. Pharmacists must be detail-orientated to ensure their patients receive the right dosage, amount, and type of medication. An error in this could harm the patient, therefore breaking the Hippocratic oath. Furthermore, a pharmacist must pay attention to the patient’s other prescriptions and medical history to avoid any negative reactions. Next, I have earned strong customer service and communication skills from my job at Fareway Food Stores. Since I earned this job in May 2012, I have made it one of my goals to assist and brighten the day of my customers. As a pharmacist, I would need strong communication skills with my patients to fit them with the best prescription possible. Additionally, I would counsel them on the directions of their mediation, any potential side affects, and how to add new medications into their lifestyle with the least amount of stress. Apart from my patients, I would have to communicate my with pharmacy technicians and any interns I may have, as well as insurance companies. Lastly, I feel I have natural abilities in science and mathematics. I

    Read More

More about Independent Pharmacist Reflective Account

Open Document