A legal drug dealer (also known as a Pharmacist), still being positive and passionate about both work and life!

My favourite motto is: don’t worry, be happy! Because life is too short and nothing is permanent. Outside work, I would love to live life to the fullest and travel!!! 

Some people may think of a pharmacist solely as a professionally licensed retail drug seller. This isn’t wrong, however, as a pharmacist, the roles that we play are in fact more than just selling medications. Pharmacists are healthcare professionals specially trained to ensure the safe, quality, and effective use of medicines in the community. This isn’t solely confined to community retail settings but also in industries, hospitals, education, academic/research, public health and more!

For me, pharmacists are lifelong learners. There are always new emerging research and discoveries on drugs and medical conditions. Hence, we always learn and improve ourselves in order to ensure the best possible patient care and treatment outcome we can offer. Time management is one of the essential traits pharmacists should possess. Being able to multitask and prioritize not only urgent but important tasks will strongly affect the outcomes. Critical thinking skills also add points to being a successful pharmacist, as pharmacists are usually problem solvers. Last but not least, communication is the key, and therefore communication skills play an important role in the daily life of a pharmacist to ensure the best possible care is delivered to patients. This includes verbal and non-verbal communication between patients or healthcare professionals. These are not the comprehensive list of features of a successful pharmacist. In my opinion, ultimately, as a pharmacist, we want to minimize patient harm and ensure the safe and best possible care is provided to a patient to achieve the best treatment outcome.

There are lots of interesting incidents that could happen in community and hospital settings. Long story short, I remember once there was a patient who was discharged from the hospital with an antibiotic script. At that time, I was the sole pharmacist working in a community pharmacy. I realized the doctor had prescribed an incorrect antibiotic dosage, so I rang the hospital. The doctor was quite confident that he was correct on the dose, although I’ve given him the references. It’s a potential overdosage, so I was quite concerned, but the doctor insisted on that dose. Hence, I counselled and informed the patient’s father about it after the conversation with the doctor (the patient is a child). The patient and his father were at the tills when the doctor called back to agree that the wrong dose was prescribed and wanted me to change it over to the dose that I’ve suggested. I remember myself dashing to the tills just to get the patient and his father before they leave the pharmacy to correct the antibiotic dose. That adrenaline rush is no joke, haha! I am glad the issue has been rectified. 

My family, teachers, supervisors, seniors, and work colleagues have helped a lot throughout my pathway from being a student to becoming a registered pharmacist. Without them, I wouldn’t have come this far to where I am now. I’m really grateful for everyone’s support throughout my journey, especially the love and care from my family, as that’s the main support for my inner strength to be this perseverant after all the hardships before I could achieve what I have today. Undeniably there’s still a lot for me to learn and improve, and I’m sure their support will help me gain more and become a better pharmacist!