The Journey Begins

I've now been a pharmacist for four years. At work we talk about drugs, medical conditions, and patients; at home we talk about what work was like, and whenever we have a chance to step out of our busy lives for a second and can enjoy some time with friends, what do we talk about? We talk about work, drugs, medical conditions and patients.

My husband has always said to his other friends that when I get together with my pharmacist friends it always ends up being a gabfest about the worst patients,  students, and more patients...To tell you the truth, I think that my colleagues and I will never get enough. Nobody understands what the pharmacist has to tolerate except other pharmacists so when there's a giant group of us or even just two of us, it's just everyone letting off steam. "I cannot believe that so and so said and did THAT!" Or, "The doctor really wrote THAT?"

Over the years there have been some pretty good stories in which sharing them elicits some minor sympathy from "outside people" (ie. those who don't spend hundreds of hours behund the counter) but they have slowly faded from my memory. This blog will be the new place to keep my pharmacy "exposures" remembered, and hopefully I will be able to convince you, the reader, that next time you see your pharmacist, be NICE to them - they aren't just pill-counters and free question-answerers (although we do that too). We have lots to offer, and we want to help...just appreciate what we do and don't take us for granted.

With that said, this place is also going to be a place where I and potentially some future guest posters will be letting off steam. Enjoy the stories, laugh, and don't seriously wonder "OMG, did that REALLY happen?" Of course they did. In a not so literal sense, we are kind of like nurses, your other favorite profession - we deal with crap on a daily basis.