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Why I Chose
Pharmacy School
Essay by S. S.
02/16/2004
It is the year
2020. S. S. has just been promoted to a Walgreens District Manager,
and she has been voted employee of the year by Walgreens. The CEO. of
Walgreens and S. are on a first-name basis. All of her customers give
her a five-star rating and stop by, even when they don't have to pick
up a prescription, just to say hello. There is a plaque with her
photo that hangs in the Walgreens store where she works: S. S.,
Registered Pharmacist, Graduate of Midwestern University, Downers
Grove, IL. She is a nationally acclaimed pharmacist due to her
breakthrough findings in antimetabolite drugs, which has led the
nation one step closer to a cure for cancer. She enjoys teaching a
class as a pharmacology professor at her alma mater-Midwestern
University. Her students excel in her class and outside. She enjoys
telling others about her life in two parts-Before Pharmacy School
(B.P.) and After Pharmacy School (A.P.).
B.P., she was
born in South Bend, Indiana, and in her preteen years, she moved to
Mumbai, India. From there in her teens, she moved back to the United
States to Elmhurst, Illinois, and then to Schaumburg, Illinois. She
attended a pharmacy presentation at a career fair in 7th grade at the
Davea Career Center in Addison, Illinois, and was instantly hooked on
the career path to become a pharmacist. She made sure all of her
classes in high school would gear her towards becoming a pharmacist,
and in her senior year, she took seven Advanced Placement (AP)
courses to become accustomed to a rigorous college workload. She
became fluent in five different languages, to be able to help more
people in her profession (English, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, and
Spanish). At the same time, she volunteered at a nursing home to
become accustomed to working in geriatrics and understanding their
patient needs. In college, she was incredibly anxious to get started
in professional school, in a Doctor of Pharmacy program, so she
completed her pre-pharmacy course work in a year including summers.
While in pre-pharmacy, she joined many clubs to understand and
appreciate diversity, and she stayed active in her religion to never
lose faith in her work. She also attended a leadership program to aid
her in her future profession and to work up the ladder to a
pharmacist. Then came the big deadline of her application to pharmacy
school. She said a few prayers and crossed her fingers while dropping
the envelope in the mailbox. A few months later, after an interview
with the friendly admissions staff on a beautiful, lush campus, she
received a letter in the mail-"Congratulations, S. S., you have
been accepted to the Chicago College Of Pharmacy in Downers Grove,
IL. Welcome to Midwestern University."
A.P. is her
favorite part of her career tale. She gushed on and on about
Midwestern U. and is their biggest fan. Whenever she drives by 31st
Street, she makes a point of cruising through the campus and
traveling down all her favorite paths. She reminisces about the
friends that she has made there for life. She donates 15% of her
annual income to the school each year- for maintenance of the school
and some more money for a scholarship fund for students interested in
the profession. Her own children are already looking into the many
degrees offered by Midwestern U., so they can experience and
appreciate their Mom's adoration for such a noteworthy college.
Walgreens admires her perseverance and therefore is the first company
to attack Midwestern's Pharm D. program graduates each year with job
offers. She admits, "Pharmacy school is my second home. I
wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them. |
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WHY I
CHOOSE PHARMACY ?
As a
young boy, growing up I have always wondered what I will like to do
as a profession, a lawyer, doctor, nurse engineer or may be a priest.
This question has been with me for a very long time but not any more.
I have found what I want to do as a profession, I want to be a
pharmacist. What made me choose this profession over all other
profession? The more I think about it, the question I have is not
" why " any more but " why not. "
For
many years in a row now, pharmacists have been voted the most trusted
professional in America over all other professions which includes
medical doctors, nurses, priests etc. by Gallup pool. Why is this
important at all for me to mention? Does it make any difference if
they are no 1 or not? Actually, it does, because for the same reasons
the public have liked and trusted the profession, are the same
reasons I have beloved the profession myself. That is, accessibility
and knowledge.
Accessibility of pharmacists to the public have been one of the main
reason people value their profession. Pharmacists see more patients
than any other health professional. They are out there to help
patients with their medications and health.The public can count on
them when in need of a health advise. Community pharmacist not only
serve not as a drug expert for the people and the health care
providers, they also serve as most people's first line health care provider.
For
instance, in the middle of a day a woman noticed that her son has
not be feeling well, so she called a nearby pharmacy. She complained
to the pharmacist that her son might have a cold. What can she give
him? The pharmacist asked her a few questions and finally recommended
an over the counter medication to her. The pharmacist advice her to
the doctor or go to emergency hospital if the symptoms gets worse. In
a few days after taking the medications, the child's symptoms
resided, and he is up and running again. Just like that a patient is
help, no questions asked. These are my kind of people. While, not all
people would have called the pharmacy for this advise, but it is good
for many families to know that pharmacists are well knowledgeable
enough to make a difference in their health when needed.
Pharmacists are well trained professional with strong background in
pharmacology, medicinal chemistry and pathophysiology and
therapeutics. With the new six years of college
degree, pharmacists have evolved from only drug experts to health
care providers that can help start drug therapy and manage many
disease state both in the hospitals and communities in a cost
effective manner.
Pharmacists are also well paid professional with a good descent
salary that makes it quite a self-fulfilling field.
I am
happy that the profession I chosen is a profession I admire and
revere, the same profession everybody respects and value. So in the
end when I graduate from school to become a pharmacist, I am going to
go out there to help my patients and make a difference, knowing that
the public respect and understand the values that pharmacists provide. |
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How I Will
Make a Difference in the Profession of Pharmacy
"Is
it really that close?" I ponder, shaking my head in disbelief.
As a pharmacy student rapidly approaching graduation, the long years
of learning, studying, taking tests, and battling in the trenches of
academia alongside my fellow students are now coming to a rapid
close. So many nights have passed without sleep as drug interactions,
chemical structures, and mechanisms of action danced from textbook to
brain, lodging themselves firmly somewhere deep in the cranium.
Anxious days and restless nights have passed as finals relentlessly
approached. Lifelong friendships have been forged in the sweat and
fire of a common goal, working the hours away and learning the
nuances of the art and science called pharmacy. Despite this closure
and the obvious celebration of completing a hard-fought task, one
central question resounds in my brain: Why do I want to be a
pharmacists? I feel that this question can be answered best by
reviewing what originally brought me to the profession of pharmacy.
My
formative years were spent on a small wheat farm with my grandmother
and grandfather. Times were often cruel on the flatland, and my
memory pulls me back to many a frigid morning on the barren plains
when my grandfather would arise at dawn, starting the long day of
work. The years of toil accumulated, as they tend to do when the body
ages and he had rarely admitted the random aches and pains he surely
felt. The day finally came when he had to concede to the years of
brutal work by following "pill schedule". This was not what
he wanted to do, and he loudly voiced that opinion to all of the
family and occasionally to the family practitioner. Despite this, he
never had an unkind word to say to the pharmacist. He always showed
respect for the local pharmacist above that level he had for the
doctor who had placed the imposition of medications upon him. I
witnessed this, and asked, "That pharmacist is even more
important than a doctor is? How can that be?" My grandfather's
answer to the question was as clear as January ice. "He's the
one who spends the time to go over these pills with me, and explains
everything to me. The doctor is always in such a hurry, he just gets
me in and out, then sends us the bill. I've known then both for
years, but the pharmacist always visits with me as a friend,"
was his reasoning for his high level of respect. He truly appreciated
the interaction he had with our pharmacist. Not long after this
conversation, my grandfather left this world, but I never forgot that
particular conversation.
I
have since seen for myself and realized time again that the few
minutes spent counseling patients can be the most important part of
the profession of pharmacy. Some patients are elderly and may be
quite confused, and an extra effort to clarify medications can become
the personal touch that the patient desperately needs, providing them
with comfort and reassurance in addition to their basic information.
Having a "regular" recognize me and tell me about their day
as they ask about mine as well illuminates the role I can have as a
pleasant acquaintance to a patient. Having this dame person rely on
my advice when they call late at night feeling ill shows me my worth
as a trusted source of reliable medical information. Seeing the
troubled lines on the face of a concerned mother melt away into a
smile as she starts to truly understand how and when to administer a
suspension to her crying daughter makes the whole day worthwhile.
Forming an actual bond with someone who needs my expertise and
compassion evaporates all the sleepless nights of studying I have
spent to achieve this goal.
So
many times, pharmacy can be a hectic pursuit, as the phone rings,
orders pile towards the ceiling, patients demand attention angrily,
and everything seems to move faster than it can be chased. This
frenzied atmosphere can hurry the pharmacist-patient interaction as
well, and make us wonder why our patients do not give us the respect
we deserve. We can sometimes expect this respect on our position
alone, before we even talk to the patient. Pharmacy has evolved
rapidly over the last century in numerous ways, yet this profession
still revolves around quality care for the patient. Pharmacy has
ranked as the most trusted profession in America because of
pharmacists who take the time to truly care for the people they
serve. It is my clear intention, as my grandfather instilled in me
with that conversation, to not only provide all the necessary
information to the patient, but also to strive to earn the trust and
friendship of that patient. The patient deserves the extra attention
and I need to work hard to gain the respect of the patient. My
grandfather wouldn't have it any other way. |
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