Beautiful Practice: Always There to Care.
A long-awaited interview with a pharmacist friend.
1. Please, introduce yourself.
Hi! My name is Sabrina. I am a pharmacist by profession. I have served in a government for a number of years — in many different settings, too.
2. What are the most misunderstood thing about your career?
We do much more than dispense medication! As our profession has changed over the years, our focus is more patient centered instead of product centered.
We often work closely with medical practitioners and other disciplines to provide the best treatments regime that is effective, safe and cost effective.
Apart from that, we also provide patient counseling, clinical services, drug information services and other value added services.
Pharmacists are not mere medication dispensers!
3. How do we bridge that gap between theory and practice in your career?
One way is to bridge the gap is to take a patient-centered approach. This approach ensures that the patients receive holistic treatment which means each prescription is right tailored to their specific needs. This corrects a traditional approach which may be rigid, one-way, or ‘textbook’ which may not comprehensively serve the patients’ needs when they come to us for treatment.
4. How does your Christian faith help in your career — in both you bad days and good days?
i. The patients’ lives are in our hands all the time — they have given us their trust.
Every day before I go to work, I commit to the Lord by asking Him to help me. I must do this — every part of the work process involves lives.
I surrender to God to lead me, to protect me so that medication errors do not happen.
God will help me … to be very cautious in what I do.
ii. What does a bad day look like?
A bad day is when a patient begins to create issues as he or she approaches us (the pharmacy department in a hospital or clinic).
We are the ‘last station’ after all has been said and done. He or she may not be well — emotionally or physically, he or she may have grown very impatient. This affects us (the staff — in general) as well and we labor hard to help them understand their problems and their prescriptions.
One can only imagine, a patient must have become exhausted after waiting at the registration counter for their turn, to meet the doctor, to hear the doctor’s consultation, to have undergone their blood tests, X-ray tests, hearing tests etc. and to obtain medication at the final checkpoint — the pharmacy.
5. What are the current issues of trends in the field of pharmacy that the general public should be aware of?
Treatment for patients are now identified more holistically by not only the doctors themselves, but by other staff members such as the nurses and pharmacists too.
The pharmaceutical profession has certainly grown over the years. It has become a multi-disciplined field that constantly requires compassion, in order words, human touch.
6. What advice would you give someone looking to get into the field of pharmacy?
The line of work has become more patient-centered, you must have the patience and love for people and always strive to provide the best treatment regardless of their race, religion, or appearances. This line of work has broad range of career prospects to explore and choose from depending on one’s interests.
7. What skills, abilities, or personal qualities are essential to becoming a successful pharmacist?
Allow me to give a list, the traits which are vital include the below:
- One must be meticulous (one must be conscious that they may be facing a potential life-and-death situation and therefore cannot afford to be careless or lackadaisical).
2. One must exhibit high levels of accuracy in daily tasks.
3. One must possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills (he or she must be a people person).
4. One must possess good management skills.
5. One must have the ability to multitask.
6. One must be able to keep a confidence.
7. One must have great analytical skills.
8. One must be versatile — meaning, they must be flexible and are ready to take up ad-hoc tasks.
9. One must possess patience, compassion, and integrity in the face of taxing situations.
8. What life quotes would you like to share with, which you resonate with?
I do! They are:
Never give up pursuing your dreams.
Be kind to others.
A humble and teachable heart goes along way.
You can share this story using this link: bit.ly/3Qep04g. Thanks to Bit.ly.
The LORD the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
(1) I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?(2) My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
(3) He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.
(4) Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.
Sabrina also runs a business of her own which she has co-partnered with many others to ensure that her customers stay beautiful — the natural way.
For inquiries concerning baking, arts, and crafts, do refer to the link here for more information.
Enjoy this playlist.
