midpoint musings

As I'm halfway through my summer, I think it's a logical time to sit down, think about what my goals were and what I've accomplished, and to jot down some small lessons that I've learned along the way these two months. It's been somewhat of an unspectacular summer so far, which is fine by me. I've learned and reviewed a lot, but I know I've also missed out on some things that I should have pursued harder.

In May, I moved back home (presumably for a longer time, as I'm not planning to live on residence for the upcoming year) and tried to set up shop. There were some things I had to adjust to, such as no longer cooking for myself (which is good in that it's much easier, but it also limits your creativity and your ability to control what you eat) and living in the same room as my brother (with identical alarm clocks, but obviously different times when they ring, which is frustrating at times).

I started SPEP in second week at a small Burnaby pharmacy where the clientèle was predominantly Indian people. This made things interesting, as I found it difficult to understand accents or even tell whether people were male or female just from the names. It also made things somewhat frustrating, when patients wanted to speak specifically with the people who've been working there for so long and know them, or because they'd prefer to not speak in English. Oh, and many of them were concerned about prescription costs even if they don't have actual financial limitations, and as this was a small pharmacy lacking in buying power, that contributed more headaches.

What did I learn? I learned a lot about the people side of pharmacy. Not only did I (finally) get the opportunity to counsel patients, but I encountered so many different scenarios and personalities. Some patients were very keen and interested in what I had to say, but only after I proved that I knew what I was talking about. Conversely, other patients were very brief and I had to learn how to ask the right question in order to make sure things were safe and effective; occasionally this led to identifying significant problems that we could address.

I learned about what it takes to own a pharmacy. I saw all the paperwork and all the accounts for patients to help finance their medication. More notably, I also saw the compounding expertise, the use of natural health products, the personalized counselling and importance of connections in the local community, taking advantage of using the same language as your patients, and also some billing "techniques" that they needed to keep their business running. The compounding was really cool; I got to see their special ointment jars and devices, and some of the formulas they used.

I don't really want to talk about SPEP and the rotation side of things. However, as I mentioned, I did get the opportunity to counsel patients, and I think I've managed to start developing my own style when it comes to certain drugs - particularly antidepressants and antibiotics.

I also got somewhat of an attitude check during my SPEP. I had been stressed out with the amount of paperwork I needed to do, but on site, I spent most of my time being a tech, as one of the techs did all the organizing, billing, and compounding and the other one did inventory. In fact, sometimes my preceptor would send me to the back of the pharmacy to type prescriptions up, because we ran out of computers up front. I think I started resenting the tech work and typing, because it wasn't why I was there - I know how to be a technician and I don't get credit for doing that work. However, during my final evaluation, my preceptor mentioned that he/she noticed my reluctance and said that he/she was trying to give me work that a pharmacist would have to do, which includes all this stuff that we don't like doing.

After I've had a month to think about it, it's pretty clear that I erred there, and that I would take back my behaviour if I could. Yes, there was a gap between my expectations, SPEP's expectations, and my pharmacy's expectations of what I should do on rotation. But I should still be professional about it and do the work that needs to be done, because the bottom line is that I'm there to help the patient. So there was some personal maturity that happened (I hope) as well.

Moving on to June, where I spent three weeks at Shoppers Drug Mart at a very large and busy location. The first week was difficult for me; not only was I trying to finish up my PCPs from SPEP, but I was trying to re-learn T-REX and how to integrate myself into the pharmacy. The people I was working with were very diverse in their work styles, personalities, and competencies. I was really happy I was able to integrate myself with (most of) the team and work well with everyone, despite occasional tension. Thankfully, they let me counsel and do OTC consults, and those were very helpful for my learning. My work term was still occasionally frustrating, especially when I made mistakes, when I couldn't find something, or when I didn't know how to do something. However, it was nice when everyone seemed to want me not to leave. Overall they were very nice to me and I’ll miss them, and I wonder if I’ll have the time and opportunity to go back and work for them.

One interesting dimension this work term provided for me was the opportunity to mentor someone. There was a pharmacy technician student as well as a UBC student who was volunteering (interested in applying for UBC Pharmacy), and since everyone else was (mostly) too busy, I took on the role of showing them the ropes. To me, it was a little bit of payback, because I gave them the training that I wish someone had given me. I really enjoyed being in that preceptorship role. It was challenging to do that on top of my own work and I would often have to deal with their mistakes, but at the same time, they did an excellent job most of the time.

There were some other things that happened this summer, but don’t fall neatly into my work- or school-related activities. I met with Eric (twice) and I wonder if I won’t be seeing him for a very long time, as Boston is quite far away. It’s pretty clear that out of all my friends, Eric stands out the most. He has a unique perspective on most topics and has never been afraid to do things “his” way, including challenging me on many of my own thoughts. Over the last few years, we’ve mostly grown separately, in our own fields and support groups, but it is always refreshing to hang out with Eric and I’ll miss him when he does leave.

I also managed to go to the Steveston Farmer’s Market with Rachel, Nicole and Vinci; have a student council (high school) reunion with Crystal, Beatrice, Kevin, and Sarah; meet a Burnett student who remembered me from Awards night; and meet up with Tzu, Danny, Jenny and Julianna when the girls finished their SPEP rotation for June. These friends mean more to me than I think they know, because if I don’t think about them every day, it’s at least every other day. An interesting observation is that we tend to greet each other with hugs but not really during the school year, so maybe we need to remember to value each other just as much when we’re seeing each other every day.

Two more things that I don’t want to forget. One is my surprise “going-away” cake that my sister baked for me the night before I left, with two of her friends. I think it’s been a while since I’ve been celebrated that way (another that comes to mind is Christine’s gift after I posted my class notes) and it was special to me because it was all homemade, and because it was tinged with my own guilt for leaving her (mostly) alone for the summer.

And the last thing is of course Joey’s trip to such exotic lands as Hong Kong, Malaysia, (South Africa) and Swaziland. There were a lot of things that she did (and thus, I was subsequently involved with) in terms of logistically and emotionally preparing for such an exciting trip. Certainly her being away for so long is new for us, and when she starts school again our time together will continue to be limited. I think we’re almost at that stage in our lives now where we’re finally going to live independent lives – not that we need or want to stay apart, but that in terms of our daily lives (without each other) that it’s not really going to include the other. I think our respective trips will teach us a lot about ourselves, and that we will learn to story-tell and enjoy each other’s experiences without having been a part of it.