I have had a helluva time writing my essays for pharmacy school apps the last few days. They are rather ambiguous questions to which I have a difficult time formulating a response.
Funny thing is, I can write pretty damn well in my opinion. I have my baby right here (although I have a habit of not proofreading before I post, one of my sins I suppose) and I have had a couple of sports articles published on major sports websites. Actually I foresee some kind of future in writing in whatever career I end up having.
The question I have been grappling most with is why I chose this profession. Sure I could answer it with the same recycled response that 90% of the other applicants will use. That doesn't relay my actual desire for this profession though and thus I have been scratching my head for the last few days.
Until last night that is.
One of the things I have emphasized over the past two years of writing this blog is the ability, and need, to become friendly with your patients. Sometimes, this progresses into a type of friendship that you don't find in your personal life. Namely because this friendship is completely open. You know their problems and in time you may share yours.
We, and by we I mean us Pharmacy Folk, are good and kind people. Often we come across as callous egotistical assholes, but that is mainly the result of the stress we deal with on a regular basis.
Which all leads to what happened last night.
One of our long time customers at one of our stores died recently. It was unexpected, one of those passing in your sleep type deaths. At least once a week she and her husband would be in our store to pick up a prescription.
After five years of this regular interaction, you get to know them fairly well. They were almost always in a good mood (and by that I mean they always found the humor in life, something I appreciate greatly) even when things were quite sour.
Since her death, her now widow has been understandably quiet when coming into the store. In fact, I think a month had past without him saying virtually a word to anyone in the store.
Until last night.
As he was walking past the pharmacy to the exit he turned to me and said "Thank You."
Thinking this was merely a response to today's activity I replied how I normally would in this situation.
To which he responded, "No thank you for everything. One of the highlights of my wife's week was coming here and talking to you guys. She always said you specifically were funnier than hell and would make one damn good pharmacist some day. So thank you."
He then walked out the door.
That is precisely why I am in this field. Not to make money, not to shuffle people in and out of the store, but to make a difference in someone's life.
I think I finally know what to write about now...
3 comments:
Things like that help to make up for all the crap. I was working in a store where one of the long-time techs was moving away. As the customers gradually were finding out she was leaving, one of the Dads of a rather large family said, "thanks for taking care of us all these years." Nice.
Excellent post. And Frantic has it right. We are all here to make a difference.
Anyone who got into healthcare just for money should do something else.
The one patient who thanks you for helping them often makes up for all the shit we get. At least for a while.
Dude! I am working on my essays too! I think I have a pretty good handle on mine too. We all have to do that same exact question on the PharmCAS app. =(
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