Experience in the Field

After exploring the career of a pharmacist, I wanted to get a first hand look at what they do. I read a few websites and a few books, but nothing can prepare you like going and experiencing the job yourself. While searching for ways to get into the pharmacy world, I found out I am very fortunate to have Becky Stephens as a teacher here at Kennedy. Her twin sister happens to be a pharmacist at the Walgreens on 16th Ave. and Edgewood Road. The nice teacher that Becky is, she talked to her sister and I was given the opportunity to do a job shadow for the day. I went into the job shadow not knowing much about what a pharmacist actually does.

Everyone knows they work in a pharmacy, they fill prescriptions, and they distribute to patients that need them. Spending the day there opened my eyes to what they really do. It surprised me that the pharmacist doesn't handle the medication much. The pharmacists take prescriptions by phone from doctors, hospitals, or patients who need refills. After they write the prescription, they enter all the information into the computer system. They look for any warnings for drug interactions, any other prescriptions that need filled also, or any possible substance abuse warnings. It is interesting how much information they can receive by just looking up someones information and the drug they are requesting. There is a pharmacy database that links all the pharmacies together, that way the pharmacist can see if the patient is overfilling or is filling at another pharmacy and trying to get another refill to early. They have to be careful filling any prescriptions, but especially careful with "C2's". These are the possible substance abuse drugs which some include anything with oxycodone, percocets, morphine, anything with codeine or hydrocodone, or any behavioral medication like Ritalin. These drugs are always charted and counted multiple times after filling a prescription. That is the most dangerous part of their day, they have to be very accurate and no pill can disappear or be uncounted. That is a serious offense and could end up in termination of their job is something was misplaced. Something else I noticed while there was quite a few drugs that were prescribed I knew about, simple things like allergy medicines, strong Tylenol, and things you hear about on a daily basis that you wouldn't think you would need a prescription for. While there, I watched the couple pharmacists there fill prescriptions for pills, liquids like cough syrup or children medicines, and inhalers. They have a very wide variety of pills since there are brand name and generic. One thing pharmacists do is consults if someone doesn't know how to use the prescription, or needs advice about if they should use the generic or not, or side effects of the drugs. This is where pharmacists use their knowledge background the most. They have to explain how the drugs work, and if there are any alternatives if the person is unhappy with an outcome of a prescription they have been on. Many people's questions though are very basic such as how many times to take it, or with or without food. At the end of filling a prescription they much print out a detailed sheet of any restrictions or special instructions while using the prescriptions. Everything has to be very detailed and easy to follow.

Watching the pharmacists was very interesting, even as an on looker I learned a lot about how careful they need to be when checking for the correct prescription, how many different kinds of situations they have to deal with as they explain to people how the drugs work and how to take them, and how much these educated people know. While working with them, I talked to a few pharmacy technicians who are going to school for pharmacy while working there. They all agreed it is hard to keep a steady job with enough hours and study the intense work load they get in the College of Pharmacy. I also talked with a man who is just finishing school and felt very fortunate to have the job placement he did, because now after graduating he has a set in stone job placement. All of the people working there went to the University of Iowa for their education, since that is one of the only accredited pharmacy schools in Iowa. They all say it was worth the long road of education and they enjoy their jobs.

Doing the job shadow at Walgreens reassured me of the career choice. Just spending part of a day there gives you a whole new look on how your future will look in the career you choose. I understand the schooling is long and tough, but seeing all the pharmacists at work showed me what I am working towards. I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to explore more into retail pharmacy, and see how the job works being a pharmacist in a drug store.