THERE IS NO SCOPE OF PHARMACY!!
This sentence has become a kind of a hallmark of our profession, and is quite famous in fresh graduates. In university, we see the world from the eyes of our mentors and we make plans and build dreams of working in clinical settings and making breakthrough patent molecules, but when we enter the real world we get to face the bitter truth and the acidic reality. Our dreams vaporizes taking with them our plans and hope and slowly we start questioning ourselves
” WHO AM I ?????”
Unfortunately, pharmacy education and pharmacist has failed to contribute significantly to the healthcare system in our country. In 2004, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) revised the pharmacy syllabus and changed the 4-year bachelor of pharmacy (BPharm) degree to a 5-year doctor of pharmacy (Pharm-D) degree. The syllabus was revised but it still has shortcomings and does not meet international standards.The Pakistan Pharmacist’s Association and the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan have shown negligence to the profession in the last few decades and have failed to establish standards of practice in our country. As a result, most of the pharmacy graduates are underutilized and have nominal roles in national healthcare policy.
YOU ARE A PHARMACIST!!! One of the most important part of healthcare system. We can all just sit, relax and criticize our council and government for not defining our roles and making a proper service structure or we can work together to make a difference!!!!
Before you read more, please ask your self a question,” Do I want to work to learn, earn experience,gain Knowledge, help a patient and make a difference or simply to earn money??” No doubt money is important but instead of running after money ,we should run after gaining knowledge, grabbing opportunities and trust me than money will run after you….
“IT IS TOO DIFFICULT TO THINK NOBLY WHEN ONE THINKS ONLY OF EARNING A LIVING”
(Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
Make a difference, starting from today!!! If you are doing internship in a hospital its a golden opportunity to prove your worth. Attend rounds, follow up patients, take their histories, check up there charts, try to find out mistakes in dose, dosing intervals and interactions. Pick up cases, study them, make your own patient file and than discuss it with physicians.
I know most of you will be laughing while reading it,saying who allows us to participate in rounds and check charts. Well you will have to take a step, YOU and only YOU can do this!! Do not expect for a miracle to happen giving identity to the role of clinical pharmacist. You can easily sit behind those counters and do procurement and mange stock or you could just take a step and get in. Only you can make them realize your worth no one else can do it. Interact with patients, empathize with them, guide them in how to take medicines, physicians usually don’t have time for this you can grab this chance and explain them. Monitor there signs for any possible side effects or adverse effects. Report an adverse effect to MOH, no one does that, but being there, the least you can do easily is to report one.Take patients contact numbers for followup, and check on them regularly on your own, no one is going to ask you for an explanation for that but by doing this you can earn patients trust, making them realize your importance.
A community pharmacy provides us with unique opportunities, while working there you can easily council patients on how to take a drug, what to take and what not to take, introduce a medical record keeping program, monitor patients blood glucose and blood pressure for free, run smoking cessation programs, weight reduction programs, instruct patients on how to use medical appliances, introduce new effective methods of dispensing, make sure the right drug reaches its customer, point out flaws in system and make changes to correct it.
There are a millions of things that one can do while working as a community/retail pharmacist, instead of just being there for the sake of maintenance of records, filling registers for the inspectors and because you are on call, you can make a difference in this field, all you have to do here is to
” THINK GLOBALLY , ACT LOCALLY”
There are so many other fields having potentials where you can work to brighten our scope, like research. Clinical research is another neglected field , you can become a part of a clinical research and trials and save millions of life, but to make difference demands to be a part of an evolutionary change and that change can only be brought about if we are willing to work together to make this happen.
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal”
(Henry Ford)
There are a lot of people out there who will be telling you that it cant happen and will pull you down, choice is yours whether you are going to listen to them or going to show them that yes, it can happen!!
You may be what others say you are…but you can become whoever you choose to
Punjab government has recently announced huge number of seats for pharmacist, the rumor of starting a paid house job is also in air, taking it as a positive sign, if we are wise enough than it is the time for us to show them all, our importance to the healthcare system.
“THERE’S NO POINT TO LIVING LIFE UNLESS YOU MAKE HISTORY AND THE BEST WAY TO MAKE HISTORY IS TO HELP OTHERS”
(Demi Lovato)
By: Mishal.
YoungPharmacists 