What Makes a Good Pharmacist
It’s probably more than one thing.
Its multi-factorial as are most things in life, but I’d like to focus on one component. Is it the ability to catch every single DTP? Is it the capacity to fill prescriptions faster than McDonald’s pumps out burgers? I think it’s having the sense to treat the person, not the disease.
You actually hear this a lot in the medical community, but far less in pharmacy. I’m guessing it’s because most people don’t think pharmacists have patients to treat. While that might’ve been the case a decade ago, our scope has since expanded and we’ve become much more involved in how a patient gets treated. It’s time to adopt this old philosophy to our new scope.
Don’t treat the disease..?
It sounds stupid, and it is. Of course we should treat the disease. The idea is simply to focus more on what the patient cares about instead of trying to correct every single drug therapy problem. It sounds obvious, but pharmacists actually do get caught up in solving all the DTPs. We’re programmed to. We spend years learning how to spot issues and memorizing list upon list of drugs that shouldn’t be given together. I remember cramming the Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults in school, only to find out that no one gives a crap about it after I started working. Point is, it’s not all black and white. Two drugs that you think shouldn’t be given together might be the only thing that works for this patient. Make sure you’re always listening to what the patient is saying. What their story is. What their concerns are.
Make their concerns your priority.
Treat the person.
If a dying patient refuses to take their pain meds, ask them why. Perhaps they just want to be “with it” in their remaining days. If a patient is mildly constipated from multiple anticholinergic medications but is more worried about their grandson’s depression, address the depression. If a patient is still struggling with anxiety despite treatment, ask them what makes them anxious before deciding to up their dosage. I think you get the message. What makes a good pharmacist is one who treats the person, not the disease. Someone who makes their patients feel heard. Someone who tries to be empathetic no matter how busy the pharmacy is. Someone who wants to be more than a human Lexicomp.
