Deep Thought for the Day

Patient: When should I call in for refills on my medication

Me: When you're either out or almost out of the med

Patient: Ohhhhhhh that's a great idea! Thanks!

Yikes

A Facebook Quandry

One of the cool things about the spread of social media is the way you are able to interact with your classmates. My generation is lucky because if you need to get ahold of someone from your class, usually you can hop on Facebook, look them up and shoot them a message.

Therefore I wasn't terribly surprised when I received an email saying my pharmacy school had started up a Facebook group for our class. It makes sense when you think about it because we're all embarking on this journey together. I believe the majority of schools do something of this nature.

In any case virtually my entire class is in this group. A few people have posted questions on where to live, what the weather is like and so on.

But here is where the fun starts. I have had people from my class start to add me as friends on Facebook already.

Now I am not a bashful person. I've shared my testicle story with virtually everyone I know. Despite this, I am not willing to randomly open up my life to people I have not only never met, but never spoke with.

It seems highly strange that one person, let alone multiple people, would randomly choose to add someone like that.

I come from a very small town (I graduated with ~70 people) so I know the dynamics of seeing the same small group of people day in and day out. In many ways, it can be a not terribly fun experience and you learn to value what little privacy you can ascertain.

Because of this, I'm not 'friending' anyone from my class right now. I don't know who they are and they don't know who I are. We can meet during orientation in the fall and go from there.

Anyone else find this perplexing?

Who's Better Than Whom?

I have a piece of advice for those of you entertaining, or entering, pharmacy school. It goes against everything that our culture brings us up to believe, so it may be a bit of a shock. You ready?

You're not that special.

Harsh sounding I know, but its the truth. Just because you are taking difficult pre-pharmacy courses and just because you are in pharmacy school does not make you better than any one else. You are not more special than the person sitting next to you simply because of what you're studying.

We're all equals when it comes down to it. I don't want to hear about how you 'Aced' your genetics class or how you are going to a Top 10 pharmacy school. I don't want to have a question answered by some word heavy response when a simple one shall do.

To get to this point, you are obviously intelligent in some way or another. But that is not the end all in life and does not put you up higher than anyone else.

You are not better than the janitor at your work or the cashier at Walmart. Perhaps you have taken advantage of your opportunities better and you have had a few lucky breaks, but again you are not better than any one else.

If there is one thing I am growing to despise in people as of late, it is the incessant need to classify themselves above other people. We are all taught that each one of us is special in our own way, etc etc etc.

Instead this feeds into the psyche that we are not just special, but better than every one else. And that sure as hell isn't right.

So to you pre-pharmers and future pharmacists, please heed my advice. Humility can be a valuable tool both in your profession career and in life. I would advise you do your best to use it.

Will I Fit In?

That seems like such a youthful statement for someone entering pharmacy school in the fall, but its a question that I find myself asking several times a day as of late.

You see I have met and worked with hoards of pharmacy students over the years. If there is one thing that I have learned during that period is that we often don't... well we don't see eye to eye on a lot of things.

Namely this can be attributed to the fact that these people in question have had minimal experience in pharmacy prior to their starting school whereas I have been living and breathing pharmacy since I was a wee lad in a small, rural town.

So I ask again, will I fit in?

In the great scheme of things, of course this won't matter. I graduated high school with just over 70 people, I'm aware of the background politics that come with being in such a small class. But then, as now, I find myself someone what separated from the others.

Of course I am not trying to put myself up on a pedestal and claiming that I am high and mighty compared to my future classmates. No, what I am wondering is how different our views will truly be.

I have seen virtually everything you can imagine on the retail side of the field. I'm not jaded in anyway as I am quite aware of where we been, where we are and where we are going. Not once will you hear me crying wolf because of the proposed 'lack of jobs' in the future.

Yet I know I will be in the minority in this aspect once school starts in the fall. I suppose it is no different than any other person entering class in the fall, but it's something I do think about.

Believe it or not, a lot of people don't enjoy my company initially. Hard to believe, I know, but its true. Who wants to talk to a crime-fighting pharmacy dude who almost lost a testicle and has a fear of bats?

Oh well, chalk it up to the joys of change in life. At least I have you guys!

I'm a Doctor, He's a Doctor, She's a Doctor...

Nothing annoys me more during a work day when someone comes into the store and insists on being called a doctor. What irks me even more is when someone else into the store derives that they must be a medical doctor and, often, the 'Dr' will play into this fallacy.

Here's my thing, why can't we all give a little more information when saying that you're a 'doctor'. I know plenty of physicians who introduce themselves as a 'Medical Doctor'. My dentist refers to himself as a 'Doctor of Dentistry'. One of my professors describes himself as a 'Doctor in English.'

Why can't more individuals do this? The public really cannot distinguish between someone with a PhD and someone with a M.D. or Pharm.D. or D.D.S, etc etc.

To them, EVERYONE who is a doctor is a M.D.. And don't even try to explain a D.O.... I learned my lesson in that several years ago.

All it does is cause confusion and stoke a few people's egos. I know several pharmacists, mostly newer grads, who insist on being called a 'Doctor' when talking with people. While it is true the hold that doctor title, I personally don't think it's right to leave the taxonomy of the doctor title ambiguous.

Is it really that hard to offer a bit of clarification? One would think it would save on, at least, some confusion. Perhaps we could even educate the average joe who simply does not know all of the different classifications.

Oh to be youthful and idealistic...

Help A Nerd Out

I have decided to ask the masses to help a fellow nerd, myself, out with a bit of a quandary I am in at the moment. You see, I will be running my first ever full season (since I have the time) of my online racing dealie.

The problem is I'm debating running a new livery, but I cannot decide which to run. I have decided that I shall ask the advice of my oh so wise readers out there.

You can vote on the pole in the upper right hand corner. The first livery is the one I have been running for the past year, so I am a bit partial to that one.

And I promise I'll get back to more nerd pharmacy rants in a day or two.

Livery 1

Livery 2

Livery 3

Livery 4

Livery 5