Looking good but going nowhere

A doctor asked me the other day, whether I feel frustrated when dispensing. After study so hard for 4 years, I am just dispensing at the counter...

I had mixed feeling when she said that. I told her we are doing many things besides dispensing. Things like TDM, TPN, clinical stuff, controlling stocks, counter checking prescriptions, providing drug information, monitored drug therapy for specific patients and etc.These are important... The doctor doesn't seems to listen. She just shrug her shoulder.

The public sees pharmacist = dispenser. They do now know what are the pharmacist doing. So are many doctors. They thought we are just taking "gaji buta" and sit there doing nothing. They do not see the importance of our job. Without pharmacist, many doctors' license will kena suspend... I am serious.

Healthcare professionals work as a team. The main purpose in the end of the day is to provide good patient care and let them recover from their illness asap.

Dispensing is crucial and it is part of patient care. Pharmacist prepare reliable medications and distribute them to patients, counseling patients about their prescription drugs and how to best use them. I think ensure that the patients are taking medication are as important as writing a precription.

Furthermore, in the ward, clinical pharmacists participate in drug selection, drug Regimen, develop and implement pharmaceutical therapeutic plans, document it and follow-up of outcomes... Since malaysia just start to have pharmacist ward round with doctors, I understand many doctors just cant get used to it. But just remember that we are not finding fault or try to challenge any decisions. We are just there to help. Lets us work hand in hand to provide a better healthcare service for the public.

Warm uP

My boss asked me 2 days b4 I left the pharmacy shop.
“What had u learnt during this 2 months?”
I told her that mainly some counseling skills and brand of drugs and supplements. Now that when I think back, that was only part of what I gained.

It was a new experience for me working there. I faced real patient everyday. They are not simulated patient found in clinical skill unit in IMU. No scripts were given to these people and no lecturer there to give marks. Besides, there will not be any feed back telling what had been done wrong.

Many people thought it is easy to be a community pharmacist. Some customers thought we are just special sales person who sell drugs…
(Auntie!!!, it is not so easy le!!!)
People who do not know English says English is nothing more than 26 alphabets. Very simple ma!!!. So is it true that English is as easy as ABC???

2 months there make me realize that it is not an easy task to be a pharmacist. Besides, although my boss is good, she is quite strict. So it is sometime very stressful. Anyway, I was excited to have chance to see theory in class come real life. Managing a shop, staffs, ordering stocks, serving customer, counseling skills, hitting sales target, answer phone calls, listening to ‘stories’ from yr staff….haha…

Moreover, I know the importance of punctuality, responsible to mistake that had been done, ways to cooperate with different people (especially staffs), how to face difficult customers and exposed to some skills in running business in a competitive world. I was aware that what we had learned in school was not sufficient to face the society. But when I work, the working culture still shocked me. There are so many invisible rules in the society…

I think I had gained a lot in this 2 months. (Of course not money wise la) But then, now I will not feel so uneasy to tell others that the pay is low and do not feel frustrated that people are enjoying their life going vacation when I was sweeping the floor & tagging the price of the stocks, telling people the difference of Zyrtec and Atarax. This will be the most important warm up activity before I step into my real work life next month.

Scars

I came back from Sarawak for quite some time edi...
As in my post earlier, the trip was fun, but now problems come...

As the mosquitoes there are too friendly, I kena 'kiss' a lot of times on both arms and legs.
These area are full with many colorful spots now... Red, brown, black...
If you are artistic enough, you can actually see patterns.
My friend say UNIQUE BATIK PATTERN. wat the hell...
-.- The only thing I can say is Mulu mosquitoes are very talented...
They actually design the bites!!!

Now I often wear 3 quarter pants to avoid being stare too often.
Don't ask me why I don't wear long pants. (hello! this is malaysia. It is so hot laaaaaaaaaaa).

So, back to story again... Although it is 3 quarter, some with sharp eyes will still see them.
Somehow, I think only kids are having sharp eyes.
When I went for jogging in the park, those primary school kids will look at my legs with strange stares. Then, when I look at them, they will just pretend to look away.
I caught them looking a few times as if I have some sort of disease. -.- sighhhhhhhhhh...

However, if it is only scar, I can still tolerate.
But the itchiness is the thing I cannot tahan.
Even until now, I can still feel the itchiness quite often.

Everyone who see my legs will open their mouth in shock and make that noise 'yeeeeeeee'
one can actually see the SCARED symdrome on their face very clearly.
S- staring
C- curiosity
A- anguish
R- recoil
E- embarrassment
D- dread

I can now really understand how those people with facial disfigurement feel.
I only had mosquitoes bites and it is only temporary.
Imagine those who had cleft lips, burns marks, birth marks on their face..
PLEASE DON'T STARE AT THEM. IT IS VERY RUDE.
JUST TAKE THEM AS NORMAL PEOPLE.

SO... this is what Cathy and May said...
use MEDERMA to erase the scar.
Ok la, I will give it a try once all the lesions go flat.
Hope Mederma is as effective as what it says la.