The Death of Angry Pharmacy Rants

No, The Angry Pharmacist is not dead... okay well maybe his soul is dead, but his body is still kicking out little amber vials at an inhumane pace.

I started this blog over four years ago partially to centralize my interesting stories from work and partially to partake in the large amount of pharmacy bitching that was present on various websites. I'll never forget the day I first stumbled upon TAP and Drug Monkey's website. The feeling of "You mean I'm not alone?" spurred a smirk as I realized others had the same thoughts as I.

And I loved it.

Finally pharmacists, technicians, students and any one else related to pharmacy had websites where their frustrations could be viewed in colorful and often humorous tones. Many others tried to emulate the original sites, while few truly succeeded. As a profession, a proverbial bitchfest took place day after day on the internet as a means to vent.

And we all loved it.

Four years later though, where are we? The tone of this site has changed dramatically over the years, and something similar is seen on other sites. While the frustration and bitterness is still prevalent through blogs and other outlets like Twitter, it's nowhere near as resonating as it once was. The knowledge that we are not alone is no longer a source of relief, but a part of daily life.

And we all became used to it.

The question becomes, what now? Witty and spiteful posts are often been replaced by more demonstrative and action-oriented posts as shown by Eric, Pharmacist and The Readheaded Pharmacist. One could say that substance is slowly replacing style and it seems as if there are the beginning flickers of a collective voice for the profession. Something APhA, which has been covered numerous times, lacks the ability to do so.

And we all want more.

Perhaps the next step is providing substance towards are frustrations. To focus it into something productive and produce actual change. Many pharmacy bloggers are attempting to do just that and, if the conversations I have had from APhA are accurate, they are beginning to be heard. The time for angry pharmacy rants is ending, being replaced by something which may ultimately be even more fruitful.

And we all will love it.

It is a scary thought how a few late night, profanity laced tirades could propel a, perhaps, legitimate push to change our profession. Evolution often takes a winding and unpredictable path, yet usually leads to a superior result. My hope is that our current trend continues because it holds the promise of yielding true change in our profession, albeit in small amounts at first.

And we will all finally be happy.

A guy can dream after all can't he?